Spellbound voice
by chloemcg
Summary: NALU fic. After an outlaw uses some sort of unknown magic to do it, Lucy's voice gets stolen. As a result she is unable to summon her spirits and, therefore, unable to use magic. Its up to Natsu, Happy and the rest of the guild to help her get her voice back or Fairy tail's Celestial wizard will be forever silent.
1. Stolen

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

The woodlands was hushed as the forest air was quiet and undisturbed.

Twitters and chirps of the local birds had called against the crisp late summer air as the gentle howls of the wind had little affect on the tall evergreens of the trees only swayed in the breeze brewing in this section separated from the town of Magnolia; it was all thanks to the legendary Fairy tail guild that this peace had been well-maintained since the group of special and courageous yet pure-hearted wizards had stopped all attempts at taking this world over and endangering the lives of the inhabitants of the land.

Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfillia and the young exceed, Happy, travelled through the forest path.

The three of them basked in the nice quiet atmosphere but they weren't there to take in the serene ambiance.

They were there to find a bandit for a job and apprehend him.

It hadn't been that long ago since Fairy tail had finally defeated both Zeref and Achnologia and had reclaimed their guildhall in Magnolia. The group was still celebrating their major victory and (of course) after they helped saved the world, along with the other guilds, lots and lots of requests and jobs were being posted up on to the board but it was a bit difficult because the members of Fairy tail were also trying to get back into the hang of working as a proper team since they had been absent for a year.

The world was also still recovering from the devastating affect the dark wizard Zeref's power had but there were still rogue wizards causing mayhem in the shadows.

Natsu, Lucy and Happy all wandered down a single pathway that led deeper into the forest and they were all having a conversation amongst themselves while they could before something bad happened —they didn't want to have this awkward silence reign over them before they were ambushed or something.

Happy, using his Aera magic, flew over the pink-haired Dragon slayer and the blonde Celestial wizard.

"...How much jewel do you think we'll get for this job?" Asked the blue bipedal cat.

Lucy pulled out the aforementioned job request from her pocket and held it out in front of her, skim-reading through most of the details written upon the paper and reading the reward stamped at the bottom aloud for her other two teammates to hear.

"It says that it'll cost about 200 jewel!"

Natsu sent Lucy a sideways glance.

He asked dubiously, "Just 200? Really?"

"Well as long as it covers the cost of my rent then I'm more than happy!" She chirped.

Happy couldn't help but ask as he became curious.

"What is this guy outlawed for anyway?"

Natsu reached over and took the paper from Lucy's grip (much to her dismay) as he started to look over the summary of the outlaw that they were after; the Dragon slayer wasn't much of a person who liked to read so he just sped-read over the non-relevant details of the job request and just read aloud the part that the young blonde woman and flying blue cat were inquiring about.

"It says here that this guy is wanted for using this strange type of magic to steal sounds..."

Lucy and Happy looked to each other in a mix of shock and bewilderment when they heard this.

There was a magic that could let people steal sounds? What kind of sounds? Did they mean sounds from objects? Or just random noises? That sounded a little bit vague to them and knew that more details would have been appreciated...still, Lucy, Natsu nor Happy had heard of a magic that sucked the sound out of stuff before.

Lucy shook her head to herself and exhumed a small sigh since it was no use getting her mind muddled up before she and her friends found this guy and beat him.

She just closed her eyes and took in the peaceful birdsong flowing through her ears, as well as the low whistling of the wind that cradled the tree branches overhead. It was peaceful and she couldn't fight back a smile as she felt naught but happiness and tranquility —she loved the sounds and it made her heart swell up with joy when she heard nothing but the birds tweeting and being around nature.

But, sadly, like all good things, this peace couldn't last.

A sudden low rumble of a sound started to accompany a vibration below ground.

Lucy's eyes snapped open when the ground beneath her feet started to shake and tremble, almost causing her to lose her balance and fall over. She looked around and noticed that Natsu, too, was finding it hard to stay standing upright and Happy was looking around to try and find the source of the tremors that were growing increasingly more unstable by the second.

The tree branches above started quivering, also, and rattling along with the rather mild, but still-violent earthquake.

"Wh-Wh-What's going on?" Happy asked, eyes widening in terror.

Lucy noted the undercurrent of fear in the cat's young voice.

That was when, suddenly, a large monster landed right in front of the Fairy tail trio.

The impact of the beast caused the three to skid backwards until they caught themselves by digging their heels into the ground, which had grown steady by now and stopped shaking.

"Hey!" Natsu snapped, eyes turning from onyx to emerald in an instant as he lifted both hands up and let them burst into flames as he curled them into fists, "You almost crushed us!"

It was then that they all got a good look at who had landed in front of them.

It was a _huge_ monster with vicious red eyes, large sharp teeth and massive claws. The beast looked kind of like a bear with thick dark blue fur covering its body but it had huge spikes protruding from its back and it had a long reptilian tail that flickered agitatedly.

But it was upon closer inspection that it had turned out that, on the monster's back, was a man.

The man had the very identifiable features such as an old scar across his forehead that looked as though something had slashed his head long ago. He had dark auburn hair and had skin that was tanned yet a touch lighter than Natsu's own, he also had a pair of deep ocean blue eyes.

Lucy, Natsu and Happy all took on defensive battle stances.

"Ahh," The man said, leaning down to get a better look at the three Fairy tail guild members stood before him, "You must be from the famous Fairy tail guild. Come to apprehend me, did you?"

Lucy couldn't lie, she found this man's tone _very _unsettling and she didn't like this confidence that he seemed to portray. He sounded as though he had been targeted before and, judging by the largemonster that acted as his mount, he was probably quite strong too.

It would explain his cocky attitude...

Natsu flashed a large fanged smirk at the man, displaying his _own _cocky attitude as he reignited his fists into bright orange flames whilst he got ready for a fight.

"Yeah! We're team Natsu of Fairy tail and we've come to bring you to take you-!"

Before Natsu could even finish his sentence, an errant claw came swinging at him and it knocked right into him. The flames on his hands were extinguished as The Dragon slayer didn't even have time to think or react and cried out in a mix of shock and surprise. The pink-haired fire wizard was knocked into the air by the collision and was sent flying off into the distance with Happy frantically soaring after him.

The blue talking cat took to the air and flapped his wings as quickly as possible to try and catch his fatherly/brother figure.

"AAAAAAAAH!"

"Natsu!" Lucy cried.

She hadn't expected the Dragon slayer to be sent flying off like that, it was so sudden that nobody had enough time to react properly. She sincerely hoped that Happy would get to him before he hit the ground because if he didn't...she shook her head to herself.

No, she couldn't think like that!

Natsu was way too stubborn to stay down for long.

He'd be absolutely fine.

In the meantime, though, she would have to deal with this guy herself.

The stellar wizard whipped around to face her enemies and began to sweat nervously as the beast that the bandit was using as his mount snarled viciously had taken to scowling down at her with a hungry look in its scarlet red eyes. It's round ears flicked back and forth agitatedly as it seemed to crouch down on all fours, saliva dripping from its huge set of bared teeth.

Lucy gulped nervously.

Her blood ran cold while a mental image of her being trapped in that huge mouth flashed through her mind and, thus, made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end —she knew that, if she wanted to get passed this beast and get to the man riding it, she'd have to be tactical.

She reached into her back pocket, grabbed her Celestial keys, chose one of them and proceeded to summon the spirit she'd chosen.

"Open, gate of the white lamb: Aries!" She called out with an echoed voice.

Within instants, in a burst of light, a young woman with pink hair, brown eyes and a pair of twisted horns on her head appeared right in front of the wizard who had summoned her. When the spirit had materialised out of thin air, she fidgeted nervously on the spot where she now stood.

"Y-Yes? What can I do for you, Miss Lucy?" She bleated timidly.

Lucy smiled gently at her Celestial spirit friend.

"Hey, Aries! Can you please help me fight this guy?"

The Celestial spirit nodded feebly as she mumbled, "I-I'll try..."

Without wasting another moment, the pink-haired woman spirit thrust her arm forwards and shouted as loud as she could.

**"WOOL WALL!"**

The monster's eyes widened in perplexity when it became encased in a huge ball of fluffy pink wool. It looked around as if confused and it had a rather adorable open maw that didn't display its large yet gnarly fangs as much whilst it seemed to try and squirm out of its warm yet fluffy confinement.

The monster's rider, though, appeared far less impressed.

Was this some kind of joke...?

That was when Aries shot out another, much smaller ball of pink wool over towards the wall of pink fluffiness from the palm of her hand and it fired straight towards the large mass that was already encasing the creature. It was after the lone ball of wool touched the huge wall that the lamb spirit let out a shout in a powerful (but still meek) exclamation:

**"WOOL BOMB!"**

Within an instant after those words were uttered, the entire wool enclosure burst into a violent explosion of pink fluff.

The giant bear-like monster seemed to simmer down and enjoy the fluffiness as it sunk to its stomach and closed its eyes. It started to let out loud, sleepy snores as the comfort of the fluffy pink wool made it drowsy and the beast fell right to sleep. It's ears flattened and it exhumed a soft sigh from the very depths of its nostrils.

Lucy smirked to herself.

Her plan worked and she had to admit it to herself that the monster looked so sweet when it was sleeping.

Aries smiled brightly, albeit timidly.

"Good job, Aries!" The Stellar wizard gave her lamb friend a thumbs up.

"Th-Thank you."

Aries gave a grateful nod before she vanished in a puff of smoke.

Lucy glanced up at the bandit (whom still sat on the monster's back) and called out, smirking confidently, "What? Haven't seen a Celestial wizard in action before?"

The man ground his teeth angrily.

This young woman was making him angry.

"For your information, you should fear me most of all! I have something with me that could take away everything you should hold dear!"

Lucy quirked a brow at him and frowned dubiously.

"Me? Scared of you?" She scoffed, "Okay, guy, let me think about that when we take you in."

The outlaw had just about enough of this!

"ENOOOOOUGH!" He shrieked, his eyes glowing powerfully as he removed what looked like some sort of charm from his robes and then raised it up high while he raised one other hand (not nearly as high as the other) and it started to glow with the same light as the one that lit his eyes.

Lucy watched with shock as a dark aura surrounded her body, immobilising her so she couldn't move an inch anymore.

She tried to struggle.

She did.

But she was paralysed.

The Celestial mage of Fairy tail glanced down at her herself when he caught a bright glow shining at the area around her throat, the ominously blinding glow seemed to have been some sort of curse, especially as she could faintly make out the shape of an alchemic circle at the base of her neck. She also took notice that the man was holding some sort of charm in front of her (it looked quite ancient) and he started to mutter some sort of incantation, but it was so low and grumbled that she couldn't make it out.

Suddenly that small light started to transfer from her throat to the charm.

Without warning, the wizard was dropped to the ground.

Hard.

_Owww...! That hurt!_

The blonde Fairy tail mage grimaced from the pain she felt and rubbed at her lower back to ease the pain from her drop but found that her arms felt like noodles as she tried to lift them. Whatever was just done to her had left her slightly weaker then she just had been, she couldn't even try and explain why.

What was that light that was sucked into that charm?

In the meantime, the monster had seemed to snap out of its daze born of drowsiness and let out a loud ferocious roar that made the earth tremble and quake.

Lucy shook her head to snap herself out of her stupor.

She had to recover quick!

She clumsily sprung to her feet and narrowed her eyes as she swiftly whipped out another Celestial key for the Celestial spirit, Capricorn, and then she called out to summon him. She knew that the tall anthropomorphic goat man would help her teach this villain some manners! However, she was astonished when there was no sound to come out when she even tried to say anything.

Her brown eyes widened.

Her mind started to race.

What happened?

Why didn't anything happen, why didn't any sound come out of her mouth?

Was she just mishearing things?

She had to be!

A startled Lucy used a spare hand to clasp at her own throat and let her fingertips latch on firmly, pressing them hard against the base of her neck.

She inhaled deeply to make a second attempt; she swiftly inhaled and squeezed her eyes closed as she screamed as hard as he possibly could, even feeling the strain of her voice box against her palpating throat, but still there was no noise to come out at all.

She barely had the sense of mind to put her keys back into its bag and then reclined her posture before she clumsily staggered backwards with a look of pure horror etched on to her facial features.

Lucy's hands trembled and she stared up at the man who was wearing a cruel smirk on his face.

What had he done to her?!

The man smirked evilly down at the horrified Celestial mage, he stuffed the charm, which was now glowing with a bright yellow aura, into his pocket, and then they reached down to grab her arms and she flinched in response.

She was mostly defenceless in this state!

In a pure act of desperation, she reached down and picked up the largest stick she could find and held it as though she were holding a baseball bat, however she didn't look too menacing with tears shimmering in her eyes. She closed her eyes to brace for impact as she prepared to swing her stick at the dangerous wizards...but nothing came.

Her eyes snapped open when she heard a familiar voice.

"STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

Lucy would have cried out in relief if she could when she lifted her head and saw a familiar figure with pink hair and a scaly scarf, the two tails of which fluttered in the wind.

_...Natsu!_

Natsu, anger fresh, snarled in an animalistic manner as he stood in front of Lucy. One hand had stretched out to the side and in front of the defenceless mage, in a protective manner, while the other had a closed fist that had suddenly ignited into flames.

Sneering darkly at the man who dared endanger his friend, Natsu gave a swift flick of the wrist and his hand ignited into flames in seconds.

The pinkette's dark obsidian pupils turned into jade slits and scales started to gather and show themselves beneath his eyes. He gnashed his teeth in fierce anger, the friction of the force caused sparks to fly out from the very Ivory tips of his dragon fangs. His very irises had suddenly combusted into flames and reflected on the surface of his eyeballs.

For those who didn't know him, he _almost _looked like a monster.

A curl of smoke blew from Natsu's nose.

The man and his bear-like monster glowered down sinisterly down at the hot-temper Dragon slayer and made their own individual moves to strike at him, but Natsu never gave them that chance as he simply stomped one of his sandalled feet down on the ground and then adjusted his stance. He reared back for a moment before summoning a considerable amount of his strength and then he curled a hand into a fist, ignited it into flames, and then thrust it towards the two.

That flaming punch was so hard and forceful that not only did it catch both bandit and his pet giant bear monster but it also sent them both flying off into the distance with simultaneous cries/roars of fear.

"And don't come back!" Natsu harrumphed.

That should teach them to sent him hurtling off and threatening his friends.

Lucy hung her head let out a breath of relief.

Then she opened her mouth to thank her partner but no noise came out, just like before, and she looked down-hearted at the realisation. Her voice had gone...but where? Had it been taken? She started to tremble as she ignored the looks of concern she was warranting from both Happy and Natsu. The two noticed her look of silent dread and Lucy hardly noticed that the talking blue cat had come up to her.

"..." Was all she could utter.

Happy placed a concerned paw on her shoulder.

"Hey, Lucy?" He spoke up, trying to get a better look at her face, "What's wrong?"

Natsu approached Lucy and looked her over with concern flashing in his eyes.

"Yeah! He didn't hurt ya, did he?"

Lucy wanted to reassure them both that she was alright, that she was fine and wasn't hurt...but that would have been a flat-out lie on her part —even though she could open her mouth, she couldn't even squeeze her vocal chords to make even a single sound.

She looked down at herself in horror.

What was going on with her?

Both Happy and Natsu glanced to each other with looks of concern.

Why wasn't Lucy talking?

Had that bandit done something to her?

Natsu felt his heart drop when he saw how frightened his friend appeared. He could see the silent terror in her eyes as she glanced back at him with shrunken brown eyes and her facial complexion had become quite pale, she also had a strange scent about her now.

It was hard to describe.

The thought of that man laying a _finger _on Lucy had enraged him.

Lucy needed to get back to the guild and to be looked at!

Happy looked on with silent worry as well, he appeared to have been feeling just as helpless as he was.

Natsu just watched on with growing trepidation. Lucy wasn't saying a word and she looked increasingly scared. What did that man do to her? Clearly he had to have done something to make Lucy so quiet now! The pinkette knew that this couldn't wait another second —not even the guild job could take precedence over this; Lucy had become his top priority!

The fire wizard didn't even hesitate as he grabbed hold of Lucy's hand and started to drag her along behind him.

"C'mon, we gotta get you back to Fairy tail and go see Porlyusica! She can fix this!"

* * *

**A/N: Heres a new Nalu story, guys.**

**Originally the focus character was going to be Natsu but I decided that the story would make more sense if it was Lucy. I had been working on this for awhile but decided that it was about time I posted it.**

**I hope you guys enjoy it and I shall try and add some Nalu fluff in this.**

**Don't forget to review, fave and let me know what you think.**

**-Chloemcg **


	2. A silent diagnosis

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

It took a full half hour until Team Natsu had arrived back at Fairy tail.

For Lucy, though, it felt like an eternity flew on by.

Everyone in the Fairy tail guild felt very confused and concerned when he, along with Lucy and Happy, had all arrived back from their mission and their concern only increased tenfold when the famed pink-haired fire wizard made sure to kick up a fuss, with Happy, and explained how something was wrong with Lucy.

At first, neither Natsu nor Happy could properly explain themselves (the fact that they were both talking simultaneously didn't help) and nobody could entirely understand what they were saying.

It was when the guildmaster, Makarov, had managed to extract a more illegible explanation both Natsu and Happy (including how the stellar mage was ambushed) and had decided to go ahead and call Porlyusica to see what she could do for the now-silent wizard —Lucy, of course, could not help but feel really embarrassed about this whole situation and she wanted to assure her friends that she was perfectly fine (alas) she couldn't because not only would that have been a bald faced lie but she also couldn't even try and deny it verbally.

Any sound that came out of her mouth was nonexistent.

It made her sad.

It made her feel weak.

She wasn't a pampered poodle, she was a Fairy tail wizard...!

Regardless, she reluctantly allowed herself to be escorted to the guildhall infirmary by Natsu, Levy, Happy and master Makarov.

It didn't even take long until Porlyusica had arrived to examine the silent Celestial wizard and a small group had decided to get her checked over in the guildhall infirmary. Most of the guild waited outside the infirmary room while the three other wizards and the guildmaster had volunteered to go in with her to see what they could do to help.

Natsu, Makarov, Happy and Levy all closely observed as the old medical woman from Edolas checked over the young mage.

Lucy sat upright on the edge of a metal cot with her legs hanging over the side.

She didn't make a sound as Porlyusica non-too-gently probed her lymph nodes and touched the sides of her neck, also making requests for her to try and make certain sounds as she tried to examine her. The Celestial wizard could not keep from being nervous about what was happening. Clearly that rogue wizard had done _something _to her but she just didn't know what he had done.

Other than Porlyusica giving Lucy some instructions such as say "aaah" when she opened her mouth to assist with her examinations, the room was ruled by this ominous silence.

Not even Natsu said anything as he just stewed in his own thoughts.

Porlyusica pulled away from her study of the young woman's throat and the base of her neck and decided to inquire about something she'd taken notice of when looking closer at her neck and throat.

"By any chance, did that wizard suck something out of your throat and put it into a necklace or charm or something?" She asked.

Lucy eyes lit up like fireworks exploding in the night sky.

Did Porlyusica know what was happening?

She nodded her head as a silent look of hopefulness swept across her face.

Even though the medicine mage tried to sound sympathetic, she only came off as sounding not-too-caring for the situation. She folded her arms across her chest and then proceeded to hang her head and close her eyes. A thin line etched itself on to her elderly lips while she had the tip of her nose wrinkled.

"Hmph. It's as I thought."

Porlyusica paused for a second before she turned to address the others stood in the room.

She used both hands to point towards a puzzled Lucy.

"It seems that Miss Heartfilia here has suffered a rare "stolen voice" spell that's left her completely mute."

When that bit of disastrous news dropped, Lucy felt her heart freeze in her chest and her train of thought came to a screeching halt when she heard those words. She felt as her heart practically plummeted from her chest to the floor and the horrific sound of despair rang in her ears. Her eyes swelled with tears and her lower lip quivered.

This couldn't be happening...!

She couldn't be mute!

She _needed _her voice to call on her Celestial spirits!

Without her voice, she was a wizard as useful as a fish flopping about out of water. True there were spirits that could come out by themselves like Leo but he was a special case. This all felt like some awful and terrible nightmare that she wanted to wake up from, it was just a huge sucker punch to the gut for her. How could she help the guild prosper when her voice had been stolen from her?!

She didn't want to be stuck on the sidelines!

"...Mute?" Natsu asked, flummoxed, tilting his head to one side as he seemed to not quite understand why this was so devastating. "What does that mean?"

He could tell by reading the atmosphere that it was something bad.

Levy responded, voice heavy with concern and worry for her friend. "It means Lucy can't make a sound anymore."

Porlyusica nodded her head and added to the explanation. "A Celestial wizard needs a voice if she is to summon her spirits so she can't use her magic either until her voice is retrieved...there's nothing I can do."

That was when the guildmaster gave a dark scowl as he raised a small arm up and started shaking his fist vigorously with rage.

"There must be something!" He insisted, his tone drowning in a mix of desperation and rage.

Porlyusica gave an exasperated sigh as she pinched her own temple out of annoyance. She didn't have time to deal with such semantics today, she hated dealing with humans enough but seeing them all behave like this just made her want to take her leave even quicker. Nevertheless she never could resist that look on the elderly man's face...she couldn't explain why.

"Look! I just finished telling you miserable lot that I can't do anything to help! The only thing I can think of to get the girl's voice back is to get that charm or whatever it's contained in and open it."

The elderly medical advisor snipped as her patience was already paper thin.

"Now. I've done all I can so, if you'd all excuse me, I'm going to take my leave now." The grumpy old woman announced as she left the room to go home and she stomped out of the infirmary without even so much as uttering another word and before anyone could even react in a fashion that could delay her goings home a moment longer.

A heavy tension hung over the group like a dark storm cloud and it was accompanied by a long silence.

Makarov was so furious that steam was literally blowing from his ears and his face was as red as a ripe tomato. How _dare _that cowardly outlaw harm one of his children. If he ever got his hands on the wizard who committed this act then he would have crushed him in his bare hands like a tin can full of sardines being squished by a weight.

He wanted nothing more then to grow into a giant with his magic and then squish this bandit like a bug.

In the meantime, Natsu felt his fury start to build. That bandit went too far when he hurt Lucy and stole her voice...! He felt his body start to shake and tremble and his face tightened as he grit his fangs, the mere thought of seeing that guy's face again made him so angry. He couldn't help but throw a fiery punch at the nearest wall, the impact and force of his fist made a large dent where his fist connected.

**BANG!**

Everybody jerked and they spun around upon hearing the sound.

All pairs of eyes settled on the pinkette fire wizard.

Natsu breathed heavily from the bottom of his lungs as he kept his fist roughly pressed against the wall he'd just punched, his knuckles already starting to ache from the impact. His eyes were narrowed and had turned from his normal onyx eyes into diamond-shaped, jade green slits. He grit his fangs and felt it as his whole body burned internally with unbridled wrath and fury.

The Dragon slayer stood like that for a long and tense five seconds before he retracted his fist, pulled it back towards himself, and started to skulk out of the infirmary without saying a word.

Lucy stared after her friend with wide eyes.

She didn't expect that reaction, although she should have in hindsight.

Would Natsu be okay...?

She hung her head, heart heavy with guilt. If she had been move careful about antagonising that guy then he wouldn't have been so cross with her and took her voice. She lowered her gaze towards the floor below and shuffled her feet on the wooden floorboard below her. She only lifted her gaze when she saw a familiar young woman with blue hair sauntering up to her.

Levy noticed Lucy's distress and wanted to try and lift some of the tension in the room.

She frowned softly as she stepped forwards.

"Hey...Lucy, are you ok?" She asked while planting a supportive hand on Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy didn't even try and respond since her mind was in complete chaos —this was all getting to be too much to process at once. Her mind was being flooded with thousands of thoughts, inquiries, scenarios born from uncertainty and much more. Her brown eyes were glassy and teary but had also become glazed over with this emptiness that could not be described.

Levy reached behind her and wore a heartfelt smile as she gently handed a notepad to her friend.

"Here. You can use this to communicate, write your thoughts and stuff until we get your voice back."

Lucy just gave an appreciative nod of her head and smiled a small half-hearted smile at the bluette; she was happy to have a good friend such as Levy and she was happy to see that her friend was considerate enough to give her a sketch book so she could _at least _communicate to some extent. It also made her feel just a bit less hopeless about the situation at hand...but she couldn't help but still feel more useless then she ever felt before.

The now-silent stellar wizard turned her head away so nobody could notice the single tear that oozed out of her eyeball and trickled down her cheek.

Unbeknownst to her, however, her tear was noticed by everyone present in the room.

* * *

_Later that night..._

The cottage in which Natsu and Happy lived in was unbearably and uncomfortably silent.

Both Natsu and Happy had been very concerned ever since it was discovered that Lucy's voice had gotten stolen —neither of them could think about anyone, or anything, else then their teammate. Soon after they arrived home, however, they ate a light dinner, and then decided to head to bed early; after battling that man and having to face the reality of such big news regarding their friend.

They had become exhausted and knew that they wanted to sleep and get some rest.

The two shared a bunk hammock and Happy slept on the top hammock while Natsu slept on the bottom hammock.

Natsu glanced down at his now-bandaged hand, to keep his raw and reddened knuckles from getting infected. The fiery dragon slayer and his cat just dwelled in the uncomfortable silence that had brewed and accumulated ever since they had arrived back from the guildhall.

He let the hammock rock a bit beneath his weight.

Natsu hadn't felt like this since the Blossom-Viewing festival. It was Lucy's first festival in Magnolia, and as a part of Fairy tail and she had been so excited to go and see it...only for her to catch a horrific cold that knocked her out for a solid part of the day. She was so let down and disappointed that she couldn't go and she had to stay confined to her bed instead.

During the festivities being held at the guild, however, Natsu just couldn't get Lucy out of his mind.

Her sadness and disappointment was palpable and he couldn't keep from thinking about her sad face no matter how hard he tried.

What could he do about this, though?

Natsu let loose a heavy sigh as he lay on the hammock comfortably, his arms folded behind his head while he gazed up at the ceiling longingly. Seeing such a troubled and heart-broken look on Lucy's face plagued his mind as he had trouble falling asleep; even now her tear-filled eyes haunted him. He couldn't stop thinking of that look of total despair marring her usually cheery face and it troubled him greatly.

The pink-haired pyro rolled over to lay on his back.

He could not have imagined that this would happen to Lucy.

He had never thought it possible that some ancient Mage had created this diabolical curse that took away all power of speech not that it would let his _friend's _voice be taken. The fire dragon slayer couldn't help but let his thoughts wander to a scenario of where should her voice not be recaptured on time and she is left a mute forever.

His thoughts were running rampant.

_...What if I can't get her voice back?_

He just couldn't go stand it, he felt so helpless.

It was like Porlyusica had said:

Lucy was a wizard whose magic _relied _on her voice so she could summon her spirits! If she couldn't call for them then what could she do? She would feel helpless and seeing her not able to help out would crush her. Granted, Leo/Loke could pop up whenever he wanted but he was practically the exception as far as summoning great spirits went.

He gazed up sightlessly at the hammock above him, noticing the small lump due to Happy's small weight weighing down the material.

It didn't take long until Natsu could hear some rustling. His ear twitched when he heard a plaintive groan from above him. It was soft but had a drowsy undertone, clearly the owner of said voice had been trying to sleep but wasn't succeeding in doing just that.

He knew that this could only mean one thing and one thing only:

"You awake, little buddy?"

Happy poked his head out from the side of the hammock and yawned sleepily.

"A-Aye..."

Natsu fought the urge to roll his eyes. He knew that there was only one thing to do when the kitten couldn't fall asleep and, while he tried not to do it often, he decided to make an exception this time. He sighed once again through his nostrils and proceeded to straighten himself out on the bed, making the piece of suspended material rock a bit underneath him, and he gently patted a spot on his front.

"...Wanna sleep down here with me tonight, bud?"

The blue exceed didn't even give a second of not accepting the invitation and he sluggishly hovered down from the top hammock to lay on Natsu's chest.

Happy sleepily rubbed his tired eyes with his paws and let the comforting warmth of the dragon slayer's body seep through his azure fur while he curled himself up into the smallest ball he possibly could. He was so tired that he could hardly keep his eyes open and he was far too exhausted to try and muster the courage to stay awake for much longer.

"Don't worry, Natsu..." Happy sleepily drawled with his eyes drifting shut "...we'll do whatever we can to get Lucy her voice back~"

Natsu couldn't help but offer the sleepy cat a warm smirk —he had almost forgotten about the fact that he was surrounded by so many who loved him and he had the greatest little friend a guy could have.

They would all pitch in and help Lucy, everyone in the guild.

She wasn't going to be alone.

The fiery dragon slayer softly raised his arm and drifted a lazily hand over Happy's head, placing his palm down, and he stared to rub the blue cat's head in featherlight strokes; the smooth blue fur tickled his palm and wrist and Happy seemed to surrender to sleep quickly but that wasn't much of a surprise since Happy was still a kitten who needed plenty of sleep.

Happy exhaled in contentment as Natsu's strokes lulled him into the soothing darkness of slumber.

The pink-haired fire wizard gently sat up and reached down to grab at the edges of the blanket that merely covered his feet. He furled his fingertips around the soft cotton material and then pulled it back over him while he very slowly lay back down again on the hammock to relax. He was also very careful not to disturb Happy, although his movements caused the suspended-in-air bed to shake a bit and wobble from side-to-side.

He felt his heart clench when Happy started to purr softly, his small blue furry body curling even tighter as he lain on his chest comfortably.

It didn't take long before the fire Dragon slayer felt his own eyelids start to droop.

Natsu made a quiet vow to himself right then and there as he finally shut his eyes and surrendered to the sweet blackness of slumber:

"I swear that I won't stop fighting until I get Lucy's voice back..."

* * *

**A/N: Heres a second chapter, guys! Thank you very much for all the love for the first chapter, I truly appreciate it!**

**I am so happy you are enjoying this so far!**

**I hope you guys have a good day, lets hope that Lucy can recover from her shock.**

**Don't forget to review and fave, guys!**

**-Chloemcg **


	3. Silence isn't golden

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Nobody in the guildhall felt comfortable seeing their friend so silent.

Lucy was normally so talkative and lively, her smile was infectious and her witty banters with Happy and Natsu always brightened up the room. It felt so unnatural that the blonde couldn't speak a word and nobody could even make an attempt to conceal the concern that they felt for her.

Nobody couldn't stand seeing their friend Lucy look so depressed.

They wanted to help.

Gray and Juvia had decided to keep their distance but had also let Lucy know that if there was _anything _they could do to let them know, but it was obvious that Gray wanted to hunt this guy down as much as possible to pay for hurting a friend of his. Juvia wanted to help too but partly out of wanting to be as close to Gray as possible but more out of wanting to genuinely assist.

Levy, Gajeel and Patherlily had promised to lend their hands (or paw in Lily's case), too, but Levy had to stay behind and read up on what sort of magic this outlaw had used on Lucy to begin with and to how and get her voice back while Gajeel needed to do some jobs.

The point was that everyone in the guild had volunteered to do whatever they needed to to lend their assistance. They wanted to do what they could to help lift Lucy's spirits, but they also waited on what instructions to follow.

In the meantime, Lucy was overcome by a sense of diffidence.

She still couldn't believe that this was happening.

"My children..."

Everyone lifted their heads when they heard that elderly, wise, rasp of a voice and saw a familiar old man as he looked down at them all from the upper deck. He had a patient spark in his eyes and he wore an authoritative (yet paternal) frown on his moustached face.

The guildmaster, in his wheelchair, looked down and started to address the present guild members stood below him.

"Okay, everyone." He started to speak while projecting his voice so everyone could hear him, "I am sure that you have become aware of Lucy's current predicament but, encase you are not familiar with the situation at hand, Lucy had her voice taken by the rogue wizard known as "The poacher of sound" and is now mute as a result..."

Lucy could feel all pairs of eyes land on her when the master referred to her and she immediately sunk in her seat with her entire face bright red with shame.

She ducked her head in between her shoulders and she glanced pitifully down at her knees as her legs were hugging the chair she at on. The blonde young woman couldn't bring herself to look anywhere else but passed her own legs through the floorboards below. She wanted nothing more then for the ground to open up below and then swallow her up.

There was deep regret swimming within the elder's voice as he continued.

"Until we recover her voice, Lucy will be very vulnerable without having access to her Celestial spirits so she will not be allowed to partake in _any _guild missions until further notice."

If Lucy hadn't felt bad enough already, she felt even worse now —she blinked disbelievingly and her heart sunk. Her train of thought abruptly stopped dead in its tracks as the news hit her with the same force as a meteorite striking the planet and shaking it to its core. Her heart trembled in her chest and her eyes widened in their sockets.

This couldn't be happening to her.

This wasn't fair!

But the guildmaster had more to say.

"If one of you happens to catch sight of this outlaw, you must wait for backup to arrive before you are to apprehend him. However, you must be _very _mindful of a pendant or necklace or anything that has a glowing aura about it; that's bound to be the container for Lucy's voice."

Makarov's eyes narrowed.

"Is that understood?"

Everyone grumbled in a muttered unanimous agreement.

The silent Celestial mage just sat at one of the stools at the bar where Mirajane washed a few spare mugs absentmindedly —the former leant over the table bench and used two fists to prop her face up, the only way she could use her voice was in her thoughts as she just glanced up towards the ceiling in deep thought.

She almost jerked out of her seat when she heard Mira speak up.

"C'mon, Lucy, it's alright..."

Lucy blinked in bewilderment.

Was Mira psychic? It had seemed that the kind-hearted young woman with the demon magic was always able to read peoples minds and thoughts before they even realised they were having said thoughts, she could read people's emotions like an open book and tried to make them feel better. Mira was no different right now as she appeared to sense Lucy's obvious dismay of being treated like a defenceless little princess who couldn't handle herself.

Mirajane sighed aloud as she placed a comforting hand over Lucy's shoulder to try and console her.

"The master doesn't mean to make you feel bad, Lucy, and I know it all seems unfair...but he's just doing this because he cares about you. He doesn't want you to get hurt and put yourself in danger while you're unable to use your magic."

Lucy didn't respond (of course) and just gave a small nod of understanding, but the dejection on her face was absolutely heartbreaking_._

Her eyes fell on the pink emblem stamped on the back of her right hand.

"...Lucy?"

The stellar wizard lifted her head when she heard that voice speak up and she refocused her attention when her eyes fell upon a familiar feline. Happy had a gleam of confused concern shimmering in his innocent eyes as he reluctantly approached the sad Celestial wizard.

"Are...Are you gonna be okay?" Asked the blue cat with concern on his face.

Lucy lowered her head, closed her eyes and let out a soundless sigh from the very bottom of her throat. She straightened her posture and shook her head to herself. Granted, she was in an awful situation for a Celestial wizard, but that didn't mean that she had to get all moody and depressed about it all.

What good would crying and feeling sorry for herself do anyway?

...Nothing, that's what!

Lucy decided to try and snap out of her depression as a small smile spread across her lips as she gave a dismissive wave of her hand, trying to stretch her facial muscles to appear as cheery as possible.

The stellar mage didn't make any sound as she gave a thumbs of assurance.

She didn't want her friends to keep fretting about her wellbeing; although she couldn't keep being sad like this, she didn't want to burden them with her emotions right now, no matter how helpless she felt. Besides, not _all _hope was lost and she refused to give up right away —Fairy tail never gave up the fight and that was a creed she was most certainly planning on sticking to.

She still felt everyone's gaze fixed upon her but kept up the false smile as she patted Happy atop the head.

It wasn't fooling anyone, yet nobody decided to speak up.

...or _almost _nobody.

Erza came up to her whilst she looked sympathetic towards the celestial wizard's plight as she tried to think of something, anything, to say that could lift her friend's spirits. The redhead's eyes were soft and filled with complex emotions and that included the top one on the list —helplessness.

"Come now, Lucy. We are all here for you. As soon as we find the coward who did this to you..."

Erza trailed off but everyone flinched with fright when they caught sight of a fire of fury burning inside of the scarlet-haired warrioresses' eyes. She looked so scary in that moment that she had the intense anger of a tigress ready to defend her cubs to the bitter end. If anyone in the guild had said that none of their hairs stood on end when they caught a glimpse of that scowl then they would be outed as liars immediately.

Clearly if Erza _did _end up getting her hands on the man then not only would she shred him to ribbons with her sword but she would also make it so he never saw daylight ever again.

Levy tried to lighten the mood as she sat herself alongside Lucy and smiled brightly at her.

"Hey, Lucy!" She greeted, trying to sound cheery for her friend's benefit, "Mind if I join you?"

Lucy returned the smile as best as she could and gave a half-hearted wave of greeting with her hand whilst nodding her head in response to the bluette's request.

_Good, a distraction! Let's hope it can get Erza's mind off of her future murder spree!_

The stellar mage of Fairy tail thought desperately as a droplet of sweat dripped down her forehead.

She wanted to change the subject badly...!

Yet this was the moment that Lucy suddenly noticed something:

Natsu was nowhere to be seen.

Lucy couldn't help but frown slightly when she noticed his absence and she briskly surveyed her surroundings to see if she could catch a single glimpse of the fire wizard's distinctive scaly scarf or his spiky pink hair, but she couldn't spot the dragon slayer anywhere. She really hoped, given how impulsive he was, that Natsu hadn't gone trying to track down the man who had literally silenced her...but, since she knew him, she also knew that this was _exactly _what he was most likely doing.

It wouldn't surprise her if he _was _trying to track him down.

It seemed that her silent search for him hadn't gone unnoticed and Erza started to call out towards her, snapping her out of her thoughtful state when she heard her own name.

"Is everything alright?" Erza inquired.

Lucy looked up at the literal redhead, tough, Requip mage and nodded her head to confirm that she was okay but she also thought quickly about how to communicate her inquiry on Natsu's whereabouts. She would have simply written her question down on the notepad Levy had lent her but, as she didn't feel the need to use it quite yet, she decided to use a different approach.

She put a thoughtful finger to her chin and looked up to the ceiling for a few long moments before an idea popped into her head.

_That's it!_

The Celestial wizard put one of her hands atop her blonde hair, grabbed a fistful of strands, before she used the palm of her hand to rustle it up in order to make it spiky. After making her hair spiky, she used a random rag that rested on the table in front of her to wrap around her own neck like a scarf and then she tried to look as tough as possible.

Erza, Happy, Levy and Mira all glanced to one another out of confusion at first before they looked back at their quiet friend.

Lucy shrugged her shoulders as though silently asking something and then pointed out the door.

That was when Erza realised what Lucy was asking, her brown eyes lit up in realisation.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, "You want to know where Natsu is?"

Lucy grinned as she nodded her head, happy that he attempt at charades had worked.

It was Mirajane's turn to glance around in search of the pink-haired pyro and she frowned when she, also, couldn't see him anywhere in the large cluster of guild members who were going about their everyday rituals and/or choosing jobs to chase after while grabbing themselves their own separate jobs.

The bar maid looked back at the blonde and furrowed a brow at her.

"Huh. I didn't notice it but he doesn't seem to be here."

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise when she heard that.

Given how reckless and hot-tempered Natsu was, _nobody _noticed that he wasn't even there that morning?

Where had he gone anyway?

Levy decided to ask Lucy's unvoiced inquiry as she glanced over to Happy with an expression of pure confusion tight on her face.

"Where Is Natsu? Do you know, Happy?"

Happy shook his shoulders and shrugged his shoulders.

"Nope. He left earlier this morning, I thought he got to the guild before me..."

Lucy just continued to think as she was in a mild state of disbelief, she also fretted.

Knowing Natsu, he probably went to go and find the man who had stolen her voice and then give him a piece of his mind...what if Natsu was next? Granted, Natsu's magic didn't rely on his voice as much as her own did since he could _still _summon flames to his beck and call and control them _but _that didn't mean that she wasn't worried for his safety.

Lucy then turned her head to stare out through the window.

She felt so powerless.

She couldn't remember the last time she felt so hopeless...maybe it was during that fight with Hades? When he brought out those creatures of nightmares? Yes, that was probably it. She got all her strength from her friends yet she also got her strength from being able to rely on her Celestial spirits and them to rely on her too.

She had to wonder whether or not her Celestial spirits were alright, would they be okay?

They must be worried about her...like she was worried about Natsu.

There was only one thought on her mind, though, as she looked at the skies above and watched the clouds slowly drift by:

_Natsu, you idiot...you better not be doing what I think you're doing..._

* * *

**A/N: Heres a third chapter, guys!**

**Oh dear, it seems that Natsu has gone missing.**

**Who wants to bet that he's going on a revenge spree?**

**I am so glad that you guys like this fanfic, it makes me happy beyond comprehension to see how much you like it.**

**Don't forget to review and fave, everyone.**

**-Chloemcg **


	4. Lucy's uncovering

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Despite Lucy feeling gloomy, the sun was beaming down as bright and as beautiful as ever as it shone on the world from above.

She had decided to go home after a day and a half at the guild since she didn't want to be watched over like a toddler. She hated being pampered and doted upon since it brought on feelings that she felt back when her father treated her like...

She shook her head at the thought.

She couldn't think about that right now, she needed to be strong right now.

The stellar mage of Fairy tail had started to traverse home back to the apartment that awaited her.

Her mind was still in utter chaos after everything that had happened earlier. She couldn't believe that she couldn't take part in getting _her _voice back, she felt that _she _should be the one to get _her _voice back and found it very unfair that she was being chained to the guild. She understood and appreciated that the master wanted to keep her safe from harm but found this all unfair.

She glared at the ground below her foot and kicked the ground.

It took ten minutes or so but her knees begun to ache so she eventually decided to sit down near a small ledge beside the bridge not too far from her home. She couldn't bare to fight with her landlord right now, she couldn't go to her apartment at the moment right now...

She huffed.

_This sucks..._

She thought to herself.

As she gazed into the crystal blue water that flowed in the canal beneath the bridge, she took her Celestial keys, complete with ring, out from its little bag and started to idly fidget with each keys; her fingertips rubbed against the shiny gold metal and she couldn't help but feel concern about her Celestial spirits.

They must have been worried about not being contacted.

Did they even know of her situation?

She lowered her head and her gaze hung low.

She sort of hoped that Leo could come out so she could (sort of) explain what was happening to her so then he could go back to the others and explain what was going on to them...It would have reassured her a bit to know that her friends in the spirit realm wouldn't worry about her. She hated the thought of her spirits fretting over her and sitting in their world bored out of their skulls or anything.

Then she felt tremors beneath her feet.

They were faint but very much present.

**Thoooooom...**

**SMASH!**

**BANG!**

Lucy's eyes widened and her head picked itself up off the ground and she got to her feet when she heard loud sounds. She sort of wished that she had the hearing of a Dragon slayer at that moment so she could discern the noises more properly. She stood there with her mouth agape for a solid minute as more rumbling sounds faintly sounded and the more she strained her ears, the more it sounded like a commotion.

She narrowed her eyes determinedly.

Something was going on...!

The silenced Celestial wizard made a running start towards the source of the destruction, pushing passed many running civilians whom were running and yelling for safety. She had to weave through the gaps they made and she was sure that she earned herself a few odd glances here and there as she ran towards the danger.

Her heart pounded hard in her chest.

She felt the quakes beneath her feet almost cause her to lose her balance but she kept herself upright as she kept running through the trembling which, as she got closer to her destination, she started to realise that she heard shouting.

She also started to realise that _both _the tremors and shouts were coming from a local tavern.

The tavern was a small, stilted, modest, wooden little hut that was set up right next to the end of the apartment block. The only sign of any modern touches was the light up sign that was posted out front and the windows were made from the finest of acrylic glass.

Despite the yelling and shouting from the fleeing townspeople, Lucy started to recognise one of the main shouting that originated from the wake of destruction. Her dark brown eyes widened and her jaw almost hit the ground when it all clicked inside her mind.

It was Natsu!

This made her hasten her steps to the point where she very nearly tripped over her own feet and she hurried. She hardly even noticed that the people had completely cleared from the area entirely as she threw herself towards the entrance to the now broken-down tavern and stopped dead at the open door when she saw a sight that made her blood freeze.

The inside of the tavern was absolutely decimated.

Tables were thrown about, drinks were spilled, glass was smashed on the floor, random items strewn across the floorboards. The bar tender had apparently been the only one who had stayed and had ducked behind the counter where stools had also been toppled over, probably after the sudden evacuation of every person here.

Lucy's eyes mainly fell on the left side of the bar where Natsu had cornered a man.

She narrowed her eyes angrily.

"I knew it!" She wanted to say so badly.

She knew that Natsu had gone to find that guy in his hot-tempered, irrational rage!

Natsu grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and lifted him off his feet before slamming his back into the wall, causing the man to flinch and then grunt in pain. Then the pink-haired fire wizard leaned in so his nose was _inches_ from his opponent's and two small flames flared from his nostrils and he gnashed his fangs.

"YOU!" He snapped, spit flying in the man's face. "You had _better _tell me where the guy who steals voices is! Or else I'll burn you into a _pile of ashes!"_

"Wh-wh-What?! What're you talking about!?" The man sputtered nervously. "I don't-"

Natsu cut him off.

"Don't lie to me! I can smell that guy's scent on ya, it's faint but it's there!"

The stellar mage stood in the doorway in bewilderment, her mind racing and her eyes wide.

Natsu really HAD gone and done the very thing she expected of him! Had he honestly went to sniff around for the guy and somehow it led him into this tavern...? And had he been looking all morning!? She almost couldn't believe this. She wanted to kill him and hug him at the same time for doing this for her sake.

The man Natsu had pinned to the wall squirmed and thrashed to get out of the raging Dragon slayer's grip like a worm on a hook, and he began to squeak and whimper as he shook like a mouse in a rattlesnake hole.

"I...I...I had waited on this guy earlier this morning a-a-and he wanted d-d-directions to this destination while h-he drank his fill...!"

Lucy wanted to intervene to stop Natsu's harsh treatment of the poor guy but also listened intently to what he had to say.

In the meantime, completely unaware of her presence, Natsu continued.

"Where!? Where is that jerk going!?"

The man whimpered our his answer but Lucy didn't hear it since, as she didn't know, she had someone standing right behind her. She barely had the time to glance behind her before she was grabbed by her left wrist. This man had somehow managed to reach from behind her and snag her hand to prevent her from running off before spinning her around on her feet.

She found herself staring into a pair of angered eyes.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING!?" The man growled.

Lucy tried to open her mouth to speak, to explain herself, but then she remembered that she couldn't and was struck by this intense panic that she couldn't even try and describe. Sweat started to dribble down the side of her face as she didn't want to have to deal with this right now.

...Yet how could she communicate that she couldn't speak right now?

She pulled herself away for a moment, somehow sliding her wrist out from this guys grip.

The stellar wizard of Fairy tail's heart was still pounding hard in her chest, so hard that it was threatening to burst out, plus her throat had decided to close up at that moment so she couldn't even _try _to make a sound. She had started to quickly made a frantic hand gesture to her own mouth and then she made an X shape with both hands and shook her head furiously from side-to-side.

"What're ya trying to tell me, weirdo?!"

Lucy let out a soundless cry when her wrist was grabbed yet again and she squirmed to try and get away but this guy had a firm grip on her wrist.

She swallowed to loosen her tightened throat as she pulled back as hard as she could and narrowed her deep brown eyes fiercely, locking her gaze on the person and using her free hand to try and claw at the hand grabbing her arm. She grit her teeth and yelled at him let her go...or she would since she could only mouth it as still no sound would squeeze through her vocals no matter how loud she yelled.

She wasn't going to let herself be helpless!

The wizard of Fairy tail pulled back as and dug her fingernails in as hard as she could but not even that was even remotely loosening this guy's grip on her wrist. The man cackled wickedly as he stared at Lucy with a look that could peel the skin of a herd of cattle.

"What? Cat got your tongue? You better start speaking if you don't wanna lose your-!"

Before Lucy could even react or even the guy could finish his sentence, something collided into the man from the side and knocked them _both_ to the ground as whatever had slammed the guy off of her had made him release Lucy's wrist and sent her crashing to the ground as well —the mage barely had time to catch her own fall by using the palms of her hands to cushion her landing, although it made her hands hurt in the process.

She peeled her eyes open and glanced up to see what (or, rather, "who") had collided into the guy.

Her heart skipped a beat.

It was Natsu!

Natsu didn't say anything as he just snarled. Flames licked his sides and his onyx eyes shifted into emerald slits. He let loose a low, monstrous growl as the back of his throat started to glow a bright and ominous red —he opened his mouth and blew a jet of flames his way, causing his trousers to burn into cinders.

The man staggered to his feet in alarm as he let out an inhuman shriek.

Lucy, in the meantime, climbed to her feet and smirked to herself for a moment.

_Great!_

_This guy was distracted...!_

The Celestial wizard rolled a hand inwards and rammed it right into the man's left cheek, making sure her fist collided hard when it made contact. She scowled silently as she watched the guy who threatened her tumble to the asphalt below in a heap and she panted breathlessly for a moment as she closed her eyes and collected her own thoughts.

"Lucy! What're ya doing here?!" Natsu asked in surprise.

Lucy turned to face the fiery pinkette.

She just panted and scowled silently at him as she planted both hands on both hips.

Natsu and Lucy stared at one another, each waiting for the other to say something and it was after an intense stand-off, that Lucy reached behind her and grabbed both her new notebook and a pen and began to furiously scribble something down into it. She was scribbling so quickly that it wasn't even five seconds that passed by before she thrust the notepad into Natsu's face.

Natsu was caught off guard and stumbled backwards a bit while reading the message she wrote.

_'Me!? What about you!? Don't think I didn't see you trying to find that guy by yourself, you hot-head!' _

Natsu replied, narrowing his own eyes.

"Hey! I needed info and I got it!"

He hadn't expected Lucy to come and find him and he couldn't help but wonder why she wasn't at the guild with everyone else? Did something happen or something? He took a moment to adjust the scaly scarf wrapped around his neck and then he thumped his foot on the ground as he started to ask Lucy something in a somewhat accusatory tone of voice.

"Why did you come after me anyway?"

Lucy seemed taken aback for a second before she put the notepad and pen away into her pocket and started to think of what to say and how to answer that question. She pondered this for a moment before she started to make a few signals.

She shook her head to the left and then jerked her thumb over her right shoulder towards the exit whilst eyeing said exit, she pursed her lips so her mouth formed a thin line.

Natsu stared blankly at her as the gears in his brain began to turn and grind and his eyes lit up when he eventually figured out what she was trying to inquire of him. He straightened himself and folded his muscular arms across his chest and tilted his head to one side and cocked a brow at her.

"...You wanna go somewhere safer so we can talk?" He asked.

Lucy seemed happy that he got the message and nodded.

The two started to depart for the exit as they walked out of the damaged place without another word.

Silence brewed between the two.

They walked side-by-side.

Lucy was still shaking from adrenaline but, despite it all, wanted to nag at Natsu that they were going to have to pay for all of the damage done here. But she just decided to let that thought go because she had more to say to him and she was actually sort of glad that she found Natsu because she wished to ask him for something.

She wanted to go somewhere else to talk first, though...somewhere safer.

* * *

**A/N: A new chapter for ****"spellbound voice" is here, everybody!**

**And its nearly Christmas!**

**I am already working on the next chapter which shall reveal what Lucy wants to ask of Natsu.**

**Btw, if any of you had guessed that Natsu was snooping for info on our bad guy while causing immediate destruction to his surroundings, you are correct!**

**I hope you have a good day and (if the next chapter does not comes out before then) Merry Christmas!**

**-Chloemcg **


	5. Reignited hope

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

After they had departed from the tavern, the two Fairy tail wizards had ventured to the local park to catch up on what had been going on for the day. They only had a one-sided conversation (for reasons that were as plain as day) and Natsu felt really awkward that he couldn't have a full-on talk with the silent Celestial wizard.

He had decided to hold off on divulging his information until he heard what had been going on in the guild and with Lucy's current condition, he needed to know of everyone's reactions.

Lucy and Natsu sat down on a park bench as they watched the world pass them by.

The warm winds blew in their faces.

The pleasant atmosphere wafted through the air, the sounds of children laughing and people chattering as they pleasantly strolled by flowed through Lucy's ears. Her mind was filled with questions and her brown eyes glanced skywards as she watched the clouds float by. The twittering birdsong was harmonious with the peaceful scenery and she wanted to just shut her eyes and take in the pleasant atmosphere...

Alas knew that now wasn't the time for that.

She remembered this place.

It was where Natsu had set them up to try digging some sort of treasure...

She recalled that day with vivid recollection where she noticed him blushing, he invited her to the park late at night, alone, she kept day dreaming about a date or a strange future together, she dressed up as nicely as she could and she arrived at the park...only to discover that Natsu hadn't planned a date —he just wanted to dig some treasure said to be buried at the foot of the big tree at the centre of the park.

She smacked him silly across the face and ran away.

Unbeknownst to her, though, Natsu had something he never told her; that night, when he had asked her to dig up that treasure...he had hoped to get to know her better whilst they dug but then she slapped him in the face and ran. That _was, _in his mind at least, a date, but he _also _really wanted to dig up that treasure and get the reward!

Anyway, the very memory caused the tips of Lucy's ears to redden and steam to blow.

Then she shook her head.

This wasn't the time to start thinking about romance...

Natsu seemed to finally notice that Lucy was stewing in her thoughts.

"Hmmm?" He hummed, glancing over at Lucy with perplexed confusion, "Luce?"

The Celestial wizard jerked into attention when she heard the Dragon slayer's voice. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in surprise as she jolted forwards for a sec and swung her head around to glance back at Natsu. Her eyes were wide for a second before she relaxed her facial features and nodded her head, smiling in reassurance as she wanted to assure him that she was alright so she grabbed his hand, gave it a slight squeeze and smiled a warm smile his way.

Natsu stared at her for a second before he reclined a bit on the bench seat.

"Soooo...everything okay?" He started, trying to break the ice that settled between them.

Lucy smile vanished.

She raised an eyebrow.

Her stomach twisted and a vein pulsated against her forehead.

What kind of question was that!? Was everything okay!? Everything was NOT okay! She felt defenceless without her voice, she couldn't even communicate with her spirits! Everyone kept treating her like a small child who needed to be watched over 24/7 and it was annoying. She tried her best to keep her mood up and stay happy but it was so hard. She didn't want to complain and she just tried to keep up with herself and keep hope.

She was now fuming!

Without another second to think, she grit her teeth so hard that they were in danger of breaking, bearing them, gripped on tight to her notebook, raised it over Natsu before slamming it down hard on top of his head.

**THWACK!**

Natsu cried out in pain as both hands raised to his head where the surface of the book made impact.

"Hey! What was that for?" He asked, wincing and hissing.

After this, she lowered her notepad back down on her lap and scribbled down a note in her notepad. She scrawled wildly as though getting her rage out that moment and her pen practically combustion as she penned the words to the page. She finished writing her message down on the notepad and showed it to Natsu as she scowled darkly at him.

_'What I wanna know is what you were doing when you blew up that tavern, bub! You scared that waiter and could've gotten into serious trouble! Not to mention you scared a lot of people!'_

"Hey! I said before I was getting info on the guy that attacked ya!" He defended.

**THWACK!**

**SMACK!**

Another two blows were delivered unto his head, one landed smack dab on the head and another swiped violently across his hairline.

Natsu was shocked as he didn't expect the instant shift from reassuring to furious. He rubbed his head tenderly but firmly, feeling small bumps start to rise out from his scalp with his fingertips, and he moaned.

"Ooooow...why do you have to be so scary, especially when you're angry...?"

Lucy's dark scowl returned as she raised her notebook once more, silently threatening to strike him with it again.

Natsu held his hands up in a defensive gesture and instantly started panicking. He could basically see how angry the question had made her and he couldn't help but shudder as he stared at her in a mix of pain and wide-eyed incredulity.

"Ah! Okay, okay, bad question, I get it!" He exclaimed.

Lucy huffed and puffed as she retained a tight grip on her notebook, keeping her angered scowl on her face. Her eyes were as hard as steel and she had to make a lot of effort to keep her chin from quivering, thus giving away both her frustration and her current rage. She kept on panting as she tried to cool down and not go crazy, especially since she could see that a lot of stunned eyes had fallen upon both herself and the fire dragon slayer sat next to her.

She was sure that the sight of a Fairy tail wizard beating another Fairy tail wizard senseless with _a_ _book _was a shocking sight, indeed.

Natsu kept rubbing away at his aching head as he sat on the furthest edge of the bench to keep himself distanced from the enraged Celestial wizard. He stared at her with a pained expression and he started up the conversation once again...but, as he was the only one who could at the moment, he kind of had to.

"Soooo...mind telling me what happened at the guild?"

Lucy wasted no time and scribbled down the master's rule on her new notepad and all of her pent up frustrations on how she felt about it all:

'_The master had decreed that I can't get into any fights, go on any jobs or anything until I can get my voice back. It's not fair, Natsu! I understand that he just wants me to be save and all but I'm not entirely helpless!'_

Natsu read it all as he absorbed everything that she had written.

He couldn't believe that Lucy had been given such a rule, he could sort of understand it because of the whole "no voice, no magic" thing but he could see how Lucy could feel frustrated by it. He didn't want her to get hurt but he wasn't going to keep her on such a ridiculously short leash because he didn't feel comfortable reigning in her independence like that.

The pink-haired fire wizard was sure that the rest of the guild was going to make getting Lucy her voice back a top priority but he didn't agree on kicking her out of the fold like that, even if it was well-intentioned.

The two kept watching people stroll on by.

Lucy started to ponder as she looked down at her own two feet, kicking them back and fourth absentmindedly.

There was something she wished to ask Natsu...but she wasn't sure whether it was wise to or not. If she asked this favour of him then she could get into a heap of trouble and everyone would probably be angry at her, but she had to take this risk. She couldn't bother anyone else with her problems and she wanted to be the sole one to complete this task.

Her eyes hardened in determination as she clenched her fist.

She bit her lower lip.

The stellar couldn't help but tremble nervously, in spite of how warm it was, thanks to the summer heat, and she wracked her brain; she didn't want to get in trouble...but she also wanted to help instead of sitting helpless on the sidelines.

Lucy decided to just go for it.

She scribbled a little something down on her notepad and she did it so swiftly that not even three seconds had passed before she finished and held it out towards Natsu so he could read it, practically forcing it in his face.

When the notepad was shoved right in his face, the Dragon slayer automatically leaned back as he started to read the note that the silenced Stellar mage had written just for him. He stared at Lucy with widened onyx eyes for a split second and he had a huge frown on his face when he lowered his gaze and begun reading the message aloud:

'_I will not just stay back and let others get my voice, my voice belongs to me and no one else so I should be the one to get it back! But I can't get it back on my own. I need your help, Natsu...please...'_

The note Lucy had just written couldn't have been more heartfelt because she never asked for help like this, sure it struck a blow to his heart and he figured that it must have been a hard thing for her to write but he knew that she just couldn't do this alone...and he figured that admitting that to herself was harder than she had ever imagined.

Lucy (meanwhile) just frowned.

She hated asking him for help like this but she knew she didn't have many other options here if she wished for her voice to be returned —and she couldn't do this by herself.

Ideally, she would have asked anyone else but she had a feeling that most of them would refuse.

Erza would probably just say no because of what the master had just declared, Gray would probably _try _and lend her a hand but would also be reluctant to help because of the fact that doing so would put her in danger, and the rest of the guild members wouldn't be of much help either because they probably would not want to risk putting her in danger by taking her along. Juvia would probably just tag along because of Gray. Wendy would hesitate on getting Lucy in danger. Levy was the most reliable person she could think of but she had to stay in the guild so she could do more research on how to retrieve her lost voice.

Natsu was her best option here.

He couldn't stand to see that face, Lucy's lower lip quivered and she was really pouring on the cute puppy-dog eyes. Honestly, the fire wizard would have helped her anyway since he was there for her and he _did _promise himself that he'd help get her voice back.

It was just so sad to see her beg like this...and he just couldn't deny that adorable face she was putting on.

Natsu stood up from the bench and he offered his hand out for Lucy to take.

"...Okay. I'll help you, Lucy." He said.

Lucy's face brightened up instantly and her eyes sparkled like diamonds as her mind seemed to stall for a second in order to absorb what she had just been told.

It took a moment for her to process this news properly.

Did her ears betray her?

Did she mishear him?

Natsu actually agreed to help her?

She instantly leapt to her feet, glomped Natsu and wrapped her arms around him in a hug, enveloping him while she started to spin around in joyous circles, causing poor Natsu to squeal in dumbfounded shock. Her long blonde hair twirled around in the air, too, as well as the tails of Natsu's scarf.

Despite it being completely silent, she was laughing happily and her heart sped up.

A huge smile spread across Natsu's face, revealing his glinting fangs, and he chuckled to himself when he felt her slender arms tighten around his muscular frame, he was even barely aware of the fact that his face was turning a bright crimson colour.

Lucy mouthed "Thank you" over and over again.

But Natsu then recalled that he had to do something first.

He blinked repeatedly —regardless of his spinning vision— to snap himself out of his confused and dazed state and he hardened he voice as much as he possibly could and called out in a pretend firm tone.

"Wait a minute!"

Lucy stopped spinning instantly and glanced up at him in surprise.

She didn't know why Natsu stopped her like that but she could tell from the sound of the authoritative tone in his voice that it was going to be a tad annoying, and that made her roll her eyes a little in annoyance. He placed a hand over his own head to steady his swaying eyesight since he couldn't help but feel a tad dizzy from the previous twirling, he could swear that the ground was starting to give out from underneath his feet.

He recomposed herself and straightened his posture and tried to fight off the dizzy spell.

He pointed a stoic finger at her as he addressed her.

"You are not to leave my side, not under any circumstances, got it?"

Lucy nodded her head.

Natsu sent a wry smirk her way.

Then Lucy glanced down yet again as though ashamed, a contemplative look springing on to her facial features, and then she placed a hand on top of Natsu's head and rubbed at it where she smacked it earlier. An apologetic frown crossed her face as she stroked his scalp.

It was crystal clear that she was trying to apologise for hitting the pink-haired pyro before.

Natsu couldn't fight back a small smirk whilst he shrugged non-too caringly.

"Eh. Don't worry about it."

He didn't want her to feel bad. While he didn't appreciate getting smacked with a book, he also decided to let it slide since he hated making Lucy feel bad and he didn't want to make her feel worse then she probably already did. He reached over and patted her atop the head, causing her to duck a bit beneath his hand, and rustled her blonde hair in a playful manner.

He started to make an announced exclamation with a jovial edge slipping into his voice.

"Okay! So, when I was talking to that waiter guy earlier, he told me that the guy we're lookin' for headed out of town towards this local village just outside of Magnolia."

The look on Lucy's face practically screamed _"What are we waiting for then? Let's go!"_

Natsu's toothy smirk widened, he raised his left fist and it ignited on fire.

"I'm fired up now!"

* * *

**A/N: Hi, guys! ****Here is a new chapter for Spellbound voice.**

**It seems that Lucy has gotten Natsu's help with her situation!**

**Lets see if the guy can be found...but there might be trouble on the way.**

**Btw, thanks for the reviews everyone!**

**I truly appreciate all the love and I hope you lot enjoy whats coming and I ****hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

**Don't forget to review and fave.**

**-Chloemcg **


	6. Ties that bind

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

At the guild, a while after Lucy had departed for her home early, the guild were discussing plans on how to find the rogue wizard known as the "Poacher of sound" and retrieve their friend's voice.

Nobody pondered more about it more than master Makarov.

The back room, otherwise known as the Guild master's Chambers, was quiet —the exception of this silence was the soft rumbling of the wheels rolling on the floorboards and the squeaking of a wheelchair being pushed around manually.

It was somewhat of a distracting sound but the wheelchair-bound Fairy tail master had decided to cope with it.

Guild master Makarov had previously taken to sitting at his large desk but had now decided to pace (or rather wheel) back and forth with difficulty. His arms felt a bit achy from wheeling himself around so much but he just ignored the pain and just kept on doing it in an repetitive motion for what seemed like hours.

The elderly master of Fairy tail had tried to wrack his brain as to where and why that accused man had stolen the voice of one of his children.

There was more to it than this:

After asking Levy about doing some more careful studying on Celestial mages and how their magic works, it was discovered that if a Celestial wizard lost their voice then it would seriously compromise their magic power so if she wanted to hold her keys and try and summon them, she wouldn't be able to. Maybe if she was in serious danger then maybe one of her spirits could finally intervene and she'd be able to communicate to them but _nobody_ was willing to risk that.

He couldn't take the risk of her getting harmed and that was why he banned her from going on any jobs for now...

The elderly wizard giant mage and leader of the guild just stewed in his own thoughts as he tried to ponder about how he could go about in making sure this rogue wizard be brought to justice.

Eventually he decided to get the magic council involved.

Now, he was never too enthusiastic about visiting the council because of how he would be buried in a billion stacks of papers and forms to fill out when he returned.

Alas he knew that, perhaps, he could rely on the new people running the magic council. Ever since they had disbanded and then regrouped with more competent wizards (in his humble opinion) he had grown to rely on them more and they weren't trying to shut his guild down for their inadvertent destruction to their immediate surroundings.

Due to his unfortunate wheelchair confinement, though, his independent coming and goings to and from the guild were rather limited.

Thankfully, however, someone from the council decided to give him a call on Lacrima phones.

It was Warrod who decided to assist.

"...From what we can tell, this "poacher of sound" you are so interested in has a reputation of stealing the sounds from a majority of items, such as bells or clock towers for example, and then selling them off to the highest bidder."

But the master wasn't entirely convinced that he'd sell off Lucy's voice.

Her being a Celestial mage, her voice was quite valuable...

"But what of Lucy's voice? I doubt that he would actually auction it off..."

Warrod seemed to hum thoughtfully to himself on the other end of the phone line.

The old tree-like man had that same patience he always did.

His old voice took on a serious undertone.

"Hmm...from what I can tell, this rogue wizard is like a bindweed; it slowly invades and grows more brazen and destructive to the plant it strangles, wrapping around it tighter and tighter. The plant is sound and he seems to be going more brazen with his theft of it as time passes, that is until a hand pries it away from said plant. I have a feeling that this hand is going to belong to young miss Heartfilia."

Makarov's eyes widened.

Did the current councilman honestly believe that LUCY would be able to do much of ANYTHING with her being silenced, unable to use magic, and all?

"What're we gonna do?" The master of the guild asked.

The elderly Green magic wizard and founders of Fairy tail's tone now shifted from serious to semi-jesting.

"I shall discuss the matter with the rest of the magic council...while I anticipate you finding out the answer very soon."

Makarov could easily envision Warrod winking cheekily at the end of that sentence.

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Natsu and Lucy strolled casually out of the town entrance and into the forest.

Magnolia was recovering after the taverns "blow up" (courtesy of Natsu) as the townsfolk reluctantly emerged from their respective homes and proceeded to continue with their days. The two wizards decided to head to the village to hopefully get some more information of the thief of sound rogue wizard, maybe even bring him to justice and get him to fork over Lucy's voice.

The village was only a short distance away from Magnolia, it was a humble homestead that only took a short trek through the woodlands to get to.

Natsu and his current rather silent partner cantered on the narrow dirt pathway they trod on, the only thing lining said pathway was a neat and thick row of trees and shrubs. The air was thick with the fresh and serene scent of nature. The trees were tall and towered over the pair of Fairy tail wizards, causing lengthy shadows to loom over them like a bunch of phantoms; tall pine trees towered over them and created a single pathway for them.

Natsu led the way.

He followed the scent of the rogue wizard known as "The poacher of sound" but he kept forgetting that Lucy wasn't able to keep up with him as she didn't have as much energy as she normally would. Since her magic wasn't as strong as it normally was, she simply lacked the upbeat energy that she did normally but that she refused to let that bring her down.

The stellar wizard refused to crumble like that!

The fire wizard smirked mischievously as he sprinted ahead of her, his scarf tails waving in the wind behind her. He seemed pumped up as he ran as fast as he could towards the village that apparently lay straight ahead of them and he was apparently bursting with this energy that seemed to radiate from his very being.

He chuckled haughtily as he dashed ahead with the agility and energy of a caffeinated rodent.

Lucy started to think to herself as she lagged behind.

She knew that she would get into a _lot _of trouble for doing this and going against the master's wishes but she also wanted to be the one to get her voice back. She couldn't rely on the others to do something that should be her task alone, and she _REFUSED _to sit on the sidelines and watch people risk their safety for her sake.

But...what if it was one of them next? What if one of her friends lost their voice next time? What if it was Gray, Juvia, Mira, Lisanna, Carla, Wendy, Happy...or maybe even Natsu?

The blonde young woman felt her heart grow heavy at the thought.

She shut her eyes.

She couldn't allow that to happen!

But what if it did?

"Hey, Lucy!"

Lucy's eyes reopened when she heard her name being called.

She peered up and looked ahead to find that Natsu had seemed to stop a bit ahead of her and glanced over his shoulder to check whether or not she was still following him. He had a slight look of annoyance on his face —that annoyance wasn't obvious due to the distance between them but Lucy could hear the annoyed edge in his voice that hinted at its presence to begin with.

The pink-haired pyro gave a gesture of his hand that told her to follow him.

"C'mon!" He called to her "We gotta get going if we wanna catch up to that guy nd getcha a chance to get your voice back!"

Then Natsu kept on running towards the village with this rush of adrenaline.

Lucy rolled her eyes to herself.

She sometimes forgot how childish Natsu could be...

The Celestial wizard decided to push those worries to the back of her mind for now.

She'd worry about that when the more appropriate time came for her to be more justified about said worries, she needed to focus on the now and, besides, should she and Natsu succeed on finding the guy and getting her voice back then those thoughts would be unwarranted.

She needed to focus right now.

She thought to herself before following after the hyperactive dragon slayer.

_"I really should follow him before he beats me there,"_

* * *

The Guildmaster hung up the Lacrima phone, placing it down on the desk, and then sighed heavily to himself as he turned to stare out the window in deep contemplation.

The world outside looked so beautiful. The skies were a pale blue, puffs of cloud slowly sailed by, the sun was bright as it cast its beautiful light and warmth down on the world flourishing beneath and shining against the window and lighting up the office. There was a soft, welcoming gentle breeze that brushed through the blades of grass and caused the trees and its branches to rock in the winds.

It was such a beautiful day.

It was so hard to believe that it wasn't too long ago since the huge battle between the world and the king of dragons, Acnologia.

Makarov's old eyes were wistful and his head was stuffed with what must have been a thousand thoughts and questions. He couldn't help but think mostly about the implications of his strange plant-based analogy of the situation.

Some of these mostly consisted of his mind lingering on what Warrod had said before; about Lucy possibly being the one to possibly defeat this bindweed of a man.

He had been fiercely protective of the brave and courageous young wizard, especially after hearing that her biological father hadn't been there for her growing up; perhaps he was overly protective at times but he _did _consider everyone in this guild his children so he didn't want to risk them getting hurt unnecessarily if he could help it.

If it weren't for Lucy's current predicament, he'd have far more faith in her.

He stopped in front of his desk and sighed.

What could he do...?

**SLAM!**

The guild master was jerked from his deep thoughts abruptly and almost toppled out of his seat due to the shock he received from such a loud sound. He twisted half his body and whirled himself around to stare at the door so wide that his eyeballs were scarily close to popping out of their sockets.

Erza burst into the room like an explosion with a look of mild fury on her face.

The literal redhead stormed into the office with both fists clenched at her sides, her footsteps so heavy that they practically caused the earth beneath her feet to quake violently with each step and her face contorted with absolute anger; if there was a way to describe her demeanour by using a single word then said word would more than likely be this:

Incandescent.

"Master!" She yelled, urgently.

Makarov was _almost _surprised at seeing Erza so angry.

He had to fight back the urge to face palm as hard as humanly possible.

What was it now?

Did something else happen?

The requip mage proceeded to explain her sudden fury in a burst of exasperated rage.

"We have received word that Natsu and Lucy have both ended up getting a tavern blown up and are headed towards the direction of a small village outside of Magnolia. We have reason to believe that they are going after the "Poacher of sound" themselves!"

Those words grabbed the master's attention like nothing else could have at that single solitary moment.

His own face contorted with pure rage and fury, his posture stiffened like stone, his brows quivered and his lower eyelids twitched. His face reddened and tightened severely, his eyes darkened, his moustache bristled, his lips pursed themselves closed, steam blew from both of his ears, and he dug his fingernails so hard into the leathery armrests of his wheelchair that deep marks had been made.

"THEY WHAAAAAAT!?" He half-exclaimed, half-yelled.

Like a furious whirlwind, the elderly mage violently jerked his wheelchair forwards to rush on to the upper deck whilst scanning the lower ground below as though scrutinising everyone else. His sudden shout sent a few of the guild Members stumbling back in stunned surprise.

Everyone currently present in the guildhall watched the master's silent rage fit with trepidation and concern.

They knew how scary Makarov's temper could be when he became cross. Even though he was in a wheelchair and had the tendency to be weaker than a newborn kitten at times, his temper was just as fiery as Natsu's own. He never lost that fatherly fear that he could put in the lot of them, even the slightest narrow in his eye could send shivers down even Gajeel's spine.

Everyone stared wide-eyed as, out of nowhere, Laxus unexpectedly rushed up to Makarov's side whilst gripping a glass of water in one hand and a tablet in the other.

"Now, now, you ol' geezer." The lightning dragon slayer said in a surprisingly soft voice, with a hint of jokiness putting an edge within it. "You gotta watch that blood pressure of yours."

It was shortly after the battle with Achnologia that it was discovered that the poor old man was now suffering from unsteady blood pressure levels that needed to be closely monitored, sort of like a couple of other people his age, thus he was also supposed to take a dose of his prescribed medicine whenever undergoing rage-fuelled stress or stress of any kind.

Laxus had wanted to help his grandfather out so he'd volunteered to do as much as he could.

After helping the elder pop the tablet into his mouth followed by sipping some water, Laxus turned to address the remaining members in the guild who stared at the scene in shocked silence.

The Lightning Dragon slayer sternly narrowed his eyes as he looked down at everyone from atop the upper deck of the guildhall where the master would usually address them should he have an announcement they all needed to hear.

Whilst his grandson took the liberty of addressing the rest of the guild for him, Makarov seemed to simmer down a bit as the fury on his face began to melt a tad. He closed his eyes and _tried _to relax even though it was as plain as day that his fury merely bubbled beneath the surface. He shouldn't have been shocked that Lucy had disobeyed him like that.

She was quite wilful, after all.

But still...

Laxus scanned the group until his gaze fell upon a familiar blue fur ball.

He thrust a hand forwards, titled it downwards, pointing directly at Happy.

"HEY! BLUE FLEABAG!" He yelled, electricity sparking from his body and amplifying his voice.

Happy jolted to attention.

"A-Aye sir?"

"Go find Natsu and Lucy and bring 'em both here!" He ordered.

Happy's eyes widened as he heard that, his brain stalled.

He had to go fetch Natsu and Lucy? Why? Had they done something? If they did, should he have been surprised? Something like this was sort of predictable but...they went without him? He felt his heart droop a bit and he wanted to open his cat mouth and ask what had happened but the master had decided to cut him off before he could.

"Happy! Now! They are headed for the village outside of Magnolia! We have no time to waste!"

Everyone in the guild froze in a mix of terror and shock, did Lucy and Natsu really do what they thought they did?

Happy started to see how dire the situation was.

He hopped off the table and started to run out the door, despite sensing that all eyes were on him, and he felt his heart pump hard in his chest. His eyes narrowed determinedly as he felt this feeling deep down in his gut, this need to get there quick, and he knew he needed to get there now!

He couldn't let his friends get hurt!

Once he had dashed outside, he activated his magic, spread his wings and took to the air.

He couldn't help but worry.

What were Natsu and Lucy doing...?

* * *

**A/N: ****Hi, everyone!**

**This chapter will probably be the last one until Christmas. I'm sorry that this took a bit longer and I am so happy that you lot enjoy this fic so much and I appreciate all the kind reviews. I also had an idea after getting a review from **** .X and you shall see it (hopefully) in the next chapter.**

**I hope you all have a merry Christmas!**

**You are all awesome!**

**-Chloemcg**


	7. Village arrival

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

The village just outside of Magnolia was brightly lit and night had fallen by the time that Natsu and Lucy had reached it and the place was alive with bustling chatter.

A small select few inhabitants roamed the small country streets, others put up stalls and called out the subjects and names of their wares.

Why they were out at such a late hour was beyond either Lucy or Natsu's comprehension...

However, the village had a surprisingly pleasant atmosphere.

There were cottages all around with white brick walls and the rooftops were crafted from twigs and twine. The roads were made from cobblestone. There was the occasional bright green grass patch placed here and there. There was a single ivory fountain in the middle of a plaza, crystal blue water spouting out through the top like a geyser spitting out mist and more water and finally, also in the middle of the village plaza, right next to the fountain, there stood a very tall tower made from marble bricks and it seemed to be a unique combination of a bell tower and a clock tower.

It was a beautiful place that had a few flowers sprouting out from the ground, a cool and gentle breeze slid through the air, the air was heavy with the delicious scents of bread, dough and all types of baking products.

It might have been late at night but the folk that were out and about were quite lively and appeared to have a somewhat jovial demeanour.

But there was a certain...air to the place.

It was strangely unsettling.

However, neither of the two Fairy tail wizards could quite place their finger on what was wrong.

Lucy and Natsu kept on walking onwards as they took in the festive atmosphere.

The lights, the laughter, the music, the cheers; Neither Lucy or Natsu could deny that being in this village made their previous worries dissipate. In fact, seeing so much beauty in this town lifted their souls and their spirits respectively but they both also had to uphold their guard just encase.

Lucy especially since she couldn't afford to be caught off guard.

Not while she was vulnerable like she was.

As the duo headed deeper and deeper into the village, they kept their eyes peeled and their ears open.

They knew that there was a high chance of this man popping up anytime now should he become aware of the fact that not only was he being stalked but also potentially being ambushed by a pair of furious Fairy tail wizards.

They both turned to spare each other surprised glances when something struck them both as really strange:

The rogue wizard holding Lucy's voice captive had to have been here but it was _waaaay _too peaceful for there to be any sign of a criminal mage hanging around here. Wouldn't there be some sort of commotion? Wouldn't there be real panic if there was anyone powerful hiding among them?

What was going on here?

This perplexed even Natsu!

As they kept walking towards the village plaza, the town clock tower came into view which was so high that both Lucy and Natsu had to stop and tilt their heads up, causing their necks to stretch and ache as a result of the pulling —the former stared at the tower in a mix of sudden confusion and bewilderment when she finally noticed what time the large clock that was installed in said bell/clock tower.

She noticed how the clock read "10:50" exactly.

The stellar Fairy tail wizard felt perplexed.

What had happened?

"...Hey, Lucy? Shouldn't that clock have chimed or something by now?" Natsu asked suddenly.

Lucy's mind stalled momentarily.

He was right...!

She had to admit that this was a first.

That bell tower really should have rang by now and, unless she was going deaf too, as well as not mistaken then the sound should have carried over the horizon so it could be heard for many miles. She actually didn't think Natsu would have paid much attention to things like this but it appeared that she was (indeed) greatly mistaken. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when she made the realisation that even though she (nor Natsu) had heard the sound of the nighttime bell going off.

Sure, she could feel the intensity of the mechanism striking the bell that caused the ground to vibrate beneath her feet..

_...But there really was no sound._

She whipped out her notebook, swung it open by swiping her finger along the rim, whipped the emergency pencil she kept hidden behind her right ear for emergencies such as this, flicked over to a clear yet blank page and then proceeding scribble a little note on said page.

It took a few seconds before she tore the page out of the notebook and handed it to the pink-haired pyro so he could read it.

_"You're right. Even though the clock struck ten about a minute or so ago, the belfry apparently made no sound whatsoever. That _is _kind of strange..."_

That was when realisation struck her like a smack to the face.

The clock tower...has been left without sound...?

The silenced Celestial mage's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open, her jaw dropping and landing on the ground below.

It couldn't be...!

But it had to...

"Excuse me, miss?"

Lucy blinked when a voice broke her from her reverie as she glanced down and found its source.

There was a small child stood in front of her with a rather inquisitive expression on his face, his small hand grabbing a small portion of her trouser leg.

Lucy's eyes widened and her mind was abuzz with even more questions yet she couldn't hold back a small grin. She couldn't lie and say that the little boy didn't look totally adorable, however, because he did as he had a thumb in his mouth and enlarged baby blue eyes that just added to how cute he looked. Alas, the wizard still had those same questions on her mind.

Why was this child up so late?

How come he was up and outside at such an hour?

Where were his parents?

The Celestial wizard slowly dropped to her knees, kneeling down so the child could speak more on eye level with him. She wore a look of utmost patience on her face as she listened to what this little one had to tell her.

She didn't know why but everything inside her screamed at her to hear the little boy villager out.

"D-Did you hear what everyone in the village is saying?" He asked. "Someone stole the noise of our bell tower and some other noises belonging to noisy stuff!"

The child popped his thumb out of his mouth so he could throw his arms out to the sides for emphasis.

Lucy had to blink repeatedly when she heard that.

This person who had taken her voice with that "Voice stealing" spell had apparently stolen some of the sounds of objects from this humble yet diminutive little village. However, now that it had been mentioned, Lucy started to realise that little things that were supposed to be noisy weren't making a single solitary sound; Bells had lost their jingle, clocks had lost their ticks, various musical instruments lost their sounds, tools lost their working noises and pets had lost their mewls, barks, tweets, chirps, etc.

From what Lucy could tell, in spite of her not having a Dragon slayer's sense of hearing, none of the villagers have lost their voices...yet. However, she still felt a wave of disbelief hit her full force as she started to feel guilt shake her to her very core.

Was she, in fact, the cause of all this mayhem?

Natsu finally took notice of the one-sided conversation and decided to inject himself into it. He strode up to stand right beside Lucy before he lowered himself so he was on one knee; he gazed downwards with his onyx eyes piercing through the boy's innocent gaze.

"Someone stealing sound, huh? Do you know who it is stealing all those sounds, little buddy? Did ya see what they looked like?"

The boy put on a thoughtful face as he rolled his eyes up towards and sky and tapped a small finger against his own chin. He seemed to be wracking his brain very hard as he tried to answer that inquiry. He was silent for a few moments or two as he rocked back and forth on his heels, then his little eyes lit up as he appeared to recall something.

"Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I-I-I saw a scar on one of the strange people walking about the town." He cried out.

Lucy's ears pricked up.

Strange people?

A scar?

Could they be with that guy?

She had to keep listening!

Natsu's expression hardened and he assumed the most serious look he could put on.

"You did!? Where abouts were they? When did you see them? How?"

The boy cowered under the pink-haired fire wizard's sudden interrogative tone, his eyes grew large and his lower lip started to quiver.

It didn't take long for Natsu to realise his mistake.

He started to hold out the palms of his hands and shake them from side-to-side as if that would prevent an emotional outburst.

"Oh! Uhhhh...! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare ya...!"

Lucy scowled darkly at him and proceeded to reward his efforts with a hard jab in the abdomen with her elbow. She rammed it into his stomach so hard that she was sure that it would end up with a giant bruise, she would have felt bad if he didn't deserve it for scaring that poor child.

The stellar mage knelt down in front of the boy and smiled a kind-hearted smile at him.

The boy seemed to momentarily lose his fearful expression and stared up at the quiet young woman, his eyes large and glassy to make himself appear much more adorable than necessary.

She reached down and stroked the boy's head in a soothing manner, she had a calming gaze upon her face with a tender smile curling at the corners of her lips.

Natsu just watched in silence.

He couldn't help but notice that Lucy seemed pretty great with children...maybe she had strong maternal instincts.

Lucy kept assuring the child in the only way she could; smiling and patting the boy's head.

The boy, in the meantime, simply shuffled as he seemed to relax in the presence of the Fairy tail wizard. He tried to calm himself down and he became successful as he glanced over to the pink-haired dragon slayer.

He tried to resume what he was talking about before.

"Um, er, uh, I think they went off a bit deeper into the village."

He pointed with an outstretched arm and indicated them towards the road leading to the other side of the town.

"Thanks, kid." Natsu thanked. "You _really_ helped us out!"

Natsu flashed a toothy smile as he placed a hand on top of the boy's head and started to playfully mess up his navy blue hair. The child giggled lightly as he tried to move away from the playful gesture of praise he was receiving until he squirmed away successfully.

The boy's eyes sparkled like diamonds when they landed on the red emblem on Natsu's upper arm as he gasped in surprise and he clasped his hands together in pure yet enriched excitement.

"Oh my...! You're in the FAIRY TAIL guild!"

Natsu grinned and nodded his head whilst Lucy decided to show that she was in the guild, too, by lifting the back of her right hand; the two were surprised that the child didn't realise they were from Fairy tail until now. Nevertheless, they both found it adorable that they had a little fan fawning over them and assisting them.

"Okay, little one. Go home and get some sleep, eh? It's late and your parents must be worried about ya."

"Okay!"

The boy saluted and trotted off towards the direction that led deeper into the village without another word.

Once the boy had left, Natsu turned to face his partner and a smug smile spread across his lips.

He folded his strong yet muscular arms across his chest and wagged his eyebrows at her. He couldn't help but find this realisation somewhat amusing. It wasn't every day that he saw Lucy interact with children...with the exception of little Asuka, and he couldn't deny that it was quite an adorable scene to witness. Yet he also noticed that his own cheeks were beginning to redden and he raised a hand to scratch the back of his head nervously.

He said, an subtle hint of anxiety leaking into his voice. "I didn't know you were good with kids, Luce,"

Lucy's also cheeks had blushed bright red as she cast him a sideways glance with a smirk that matched Natsu's own and rolled her eyes a bit as if to say "I could say the same to you."

Now that they had a clearer idea as to where they were going, but they needed to find him first so they both decided to have a tour of this town until they do.

Lucy, in the meantime, couldn't wait to get her voice back and start talking again.

Who knows?

She might reclaim her voice by the end of the night.

* * *

**A/N: Here's a new chapter for Spellbound voice. I also added some adorable fluff inside to make it both heartfelt and heart-warming.**

**Will Lucy finally get to confront our villain?**

**Is our story coming to an end?**

**I am working on the other chapters now and you lot shall hopefully know the answers to those questions very soon.**

**You guys are awesome and I hope you had a great Christmas.**

**The next chapter shall hopefully be out after New Years.**

**Please don't forget to review, fave, follow if you can.****  
**

**-Chloemcg**


	8. Whistle of the stars

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Both Natsu and Lucy kept their guard up as they meandered through the village.

After getting that important info from that little boy, the two Fairy tail wizards looked around as they decided to keep their guard up just encase that rogue sound-stealing wizard happened to appear in their lines of sight.

They didn't dare lower their guard for any reason because neither Natsu nor Lucy wanted to take the risk of him spotting them both and a fight breaking out on the spot.

Almost everywhere the two went, there were complaints from the villagers of sounds being stolen.

All around the village marketplace there were small, wooden, log cabins —each one of them sold a variety of different items and accessories such as articles of clothing, toys for children, decorations, books, tomes, scrolls, magic grimoires (for solid script mates), souvenirs, armoury, bottles of perfume, magic-enhancing items, weapons, etc. There was even an instrument shop!

The fire wizard silently stared through the windows and examined the items for sale.

His eyes twinkled with pure fascination and he pressed his face and the palms of his hands right up against the glass to get a good and proper look at what was on sale. He knew that now wasn't the most appropriate time to do a spot of browsing through the windows, even if those windows had several mysterious wares and items on sale, but he couldn't control himself for some reason.

Lucy soundlessly giggled in amusement.

Natsu was acting like a child!

It wasn't hard to notice but Natsu had always been one to let his mind rush a lot of the time so he never seemed to let certain stuff sink in and absorb certain surroundings properly. Because she had been left unable to speak, it probably gave Natsu a chance to properly listen to Lucy's emotions and other important stuff and let it sink in.

Sure, he did have his moments when he could slow down and take the opportunity to appreciate certain stuff yet those were very rare instances indeed.

The salmon-coloured-haired wizard and yellow/blonde-coloured-hair kept right on walking whilst keeping a sharp eye out for the rogue wizard and his apparent group, the two walked slowly and watchfully...this was the case until a certain shop caught Natsu's eye.

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared up at the sign of the shop which read "Antiques"

This was when Natsu's entire face lit up and an idea popped into his head.

Lucy blinked in sheer bewilderment.

What was going on?

"Oh! Oh!" Natsu exclaimed, holding up both palms in front of her as though gesturing for her to stay right where she stood. "Stay right there! I'll be right out."

And, with that, he dashed into a nearby shop.

He vanished inside to hopefully look at the several items on sale within. It appeared to be a sort of antique shop from what she could tell. But why would Natsu be interested by some antique shop? Why would that, of all things, be the shop to make him stop and stare? Lucy had known Natsu for ages and she never —in a million years— had even considered the impulsive, hot-tempered, thoughtless Natsu Dragneel would be entranced by a _mere _antiques shop.

Lucy, in the meantime, cupped her own chin in her hand as she used a fingertip to scratch thoughtfully. What could he be doing in there? Was there something of special significance inside that shop? Well, there kind of had to be if _Natsu_ was interested.

The stellar wizard of Fairy tail didn't know how long it was until Natsu re-emerged from within the shop.

Upon exiting through the door of the cozy-seeming wooden shop, Lucy noticed that he seemed rather fidgety —a bit more fidgety than before he got whatever it was that he had to get. He was also sporting a blush so red and so bright that it put tomatoes to shame.

Natsu wandered up to Lucy with both hands behind his back, his gaze was fixed on to the ground and his face was a bright and vivid scarlet.

Lucy tilted her head to one side in confusion, creasing an eyebrow at him, as she frowned.

What was going on with Natsu? Why was he acting so bizarre? Did he go inside to grab something...for her? She didn't know about that but she _did _know that she felt utter concern brew within her heart. She didn't like how she was causing so much trouble and everyone else was putting themselves in harms way just to get _her _voice back.

It felt as though someone shot an arrow of pain through her heart.

Regardless, she decided to focus right now.

Natsu hesitated for a couple of moments until he removed whatever he had obtained from the shop from behind his back and presented it to his muted partner. It was a small piece of gold metal that had a point on the end of it and a hole on the back of it, attached to it was a small velvet yellow ribbon tied around it. The ribbon even had a starry pattern on it.

Lucy's heart froze momentarily as her eyes fell upon the gift.

Was this...a whistle?

The whistle was small but it shined bright in the starlight.

Her deep brown eyes had enlarged with pure silent adoration for the gift.

She slowly peered back up to look at Natsu and saw that he was avoiding looking her in the eye.

Natsu cleared his throat awkwardly yet bashfully.

The pinkette pyro knew that he would be able to pick up her scent thanks to his nose but the whistle was also a good alternative in his eyes. He knew that Lucy could really use a whistle just encase of an emergency and, thanks to his super sense of hearing, would be able to locate her just encase his sense of smell wasn't good enough on its own.

He mumbled lowly whilst gesturing to one of his ears.

"I...I figured that, since ya can't talk right now, and if we happen to get separated, you could blow into this whistle and I'll always find you..."

His sandalled foot scuffed the ground below.

Lucy's eyes lit up like diamonds as she stared down at the gift in her hands. Her lower lip quivered and trembled, her chin wobbled and her chest quivered as she tried not to huff her breaths to prevent herself from having an emotional breakdown. Her heart pounded in her chest and her face contorted with teary-eyed joy as tears flowed out of her now liquified brown eyes and poured down her cheeks before she could even stop them.

That was so thoughtful of him. When did he have a chance to grab her this gift? He seemed to have really put a lot of thought into it, which was rare and surprising, and she found it so sweet that he thought of her at all.

Natsu immediately started to panic when he saw the huge tears roll down her face.

"AH! Wh-Wh-Why are you crying?! Don't cry! Please!"

Lucy wept softly on the spot as the tears kept trailing down her face while she clutched her new whistle close to her chest. She couldn't believe how sweet that was of him to do that, and how considerate. She also _adored _the whistle that had just been gifted to her and she knew that she would forever treasure it.

Tears filled from her eyes and dripped to the ground below.

In her weepy state, though, she proceeded to clip the whistle to its chain and lifted it over her head, then making sure it hung from the base of her neck —much like a necklace. She was wearing an ear-splitting grin on her face and clutched at her new whistle in as soft a clasp as she could.

Natsu clicked his tongue.

"Yeesh, you're so emotional right now..." he muttered whilst folding his arms across his chest.

Lucy narrowed her eyes a bit when she heard that and proceeded to deliver unto the fiery dragon slayer a hard punch to the shoulder, yet she couldn't conceal the smug smirk that swept across her lips.

"Ow!" He yelped.

He cast a withering glare over to Lucy as he gingerly rubbed at his arm where the Celestial wizard had punched it in an attempt to soothe the dull ache that would probably cause some muscles to bruise a bit. He didn't know that Lucy was so strong, especially with little to no magic power, and he gripped his sore spot to soothe the ache on his arm.

Lucy smirked wryly at Natsu.

She reached over, took his hand into her own, gave it a very firm squeeze while she gripped it tightly and she looked the pink-haired man stood next to her dead in the eye, her rich brown pools bearing into his dark obsidian orbs.

"..."

Natsu stared at Lucy's face with a furious scarlet tint on his cheeks.

He never really noticed before but Lucy was so beautiful, each time he stared at her his heart would race and his stomach would clench; he just couldn't explain the feelings he would get whenever he saw and talked to her, how comforting her scent was to him, how strong being by her side made him feel...

The celestial wizard couldn't help but raise her gaze to meet his and she offered the pinkette a heartfelt grin, her brown eyes sincere.

Natsu's small frown morphed into a gentle smile and he chuckled warmly. He didn't need her to speak to know what she was saying to him, that look was all he needed to understand what emotions she was trying to convey.

"You're welcome."

Natsu and Lucy kept on strolling as they resumed their hunt.

They traversed through the village, weaving through the crowds, as they still kept their eyes peeled for any sign of him. They walked and walked until their legs ached like nobody else's business.

They had to keep going unless they wanted to lose their target —The poacher of sounds.

Natsu kept sniffing the air but there were so many scents mixed in that he had a tough time isolate this one guy's scent. He wasn't sure if it was possible for someone's nose to become overwhelmed but he was becoming increasingly sure that he was finding out right now. He had to resist the urge to plug up both of his nostrils but he knew he had to keep it up.

He was so preoccupied that not even he (with his Dragon slayer sense of hearing) hadn't even heard some not-so-distant sounds...

Lucy caught it, though, and started to follow the sounds.

With each and every step closer she made, her heartbeats hastened more and more as anticipation pounded throughout her entire body.

She eventually came to stop in front of a specific house.

So she decided to peer around the corner of the building...but what she saw made her heart make an abrupt plummet from her chest straight to the floor below. Her blood ran colder than Gray's ice magic and her breath felt like it had been sucked from her lungs. Her eyes widened in their sockets and her jaw came close to hitting the floor.

She saw them.

There were a group of five men and, what appeared to have been one woman, making some kind of exchange as they chatted amongst themselves in hushed tones. They were being quite secretive about their shady deal and that instantly piqued her interest when she observed them closely. Alas, one of the men had stood out to Lucy and she couldn't help but find him familiar; something about him stood out to her...

Those scars on his forehead and face...

Those blue eyes as dark as the deepest depths of the ocean...

That dark auburn hair...

Lucy's face blanched, her complexion suddenly pale, as she knew that this was undoubtedly the wizard who had not only stolen her voice but had also taken the collective sounds of multiple objects in this village.

Her heart skipped a beat.

She had to warn Natsu...!

Lucy straightened herself up and started to point at the area around the corner desperately, thumping her foot against the cobblestone loudly to try and gain the Dragon slayer's focus on her.

Natsu eventually noticed her frantic attempts to get his attention and looked at her with a slight look of annoyance at having his fantasy fiery reverie shattered like glass. He tried to keep the edge out of his usual carefree voice as he turned to look at the young woman with slightly narrowed onyx eyes.

He asked while he turned to her, "What is it now?"

Lucy continued to stamp her feet on the ground while she wildly flung both of her arms and made a series of very exaggerated gestures. Both of her hands pointed around the corner of the building they stood behind, trying to get the dragon slayer to look around there quite feverishly.

Natsu's expression shifted from mildly annoyed to very curious as he stepped forth and peered around the corner and into the narrow alleyway that Lucy was so desperately trying to get him to look at.

He _almost _gasped at what he saw.

From the side, Lucy stopped pointing at the cluster of people and started to point at her own throat.

Natsu's eyes lit up like bright lights in pitch black darkness when he finally understood what the blonde was trying so hard to tell him. He let it properly sink in for several moments before he finally felt his heart freeze in realisation and he turned to face Lucy once more with a perplexedly-gawking expression.

"Wait. THATS the guy who stole your voice?!"

Lucy nodded so fast that her head appeared to be nothing but a blonde blur.

Neither she or Natsu could believe that he was actually there, it took a while to locate him but here he was...and, upon looking a bit closer, they could spot that he was still wearing that necklace that had a bright yellow aura about it hung around his neck.

Natsu took a quick sniff of the air.

Since he had a more specific person he had to smell, he could track him a bit better now.

He peered around the corner to take a look as well.

"Yeah...that's him alright."

Within instants after that confirmation, his obsidian eyes flashed a reptilian jade colour and his both his hands spontaneously ignited into flames.

Natsu beamed with a blinding fanged-grin and he curled his fingers so his fiery hands turned into fists and he proceeded to combatively bash them together; obviously he was quite eager to fight them head on and just snatch the necklace that contained his friend's voice. He made a move to rush forth and attack the men.

She was stopped by Lucy slapping her hand on his shoulder.

Natsu cocked his head towards her in confusion, somewhat annoyed at being stopped.

"What is it now?"

Lucy worriedly gestured to her own throat and pointed towards his, a look of concern becoming plastered on her face.

Natsu knew what she was trying to say and folded his arms impatiently across his chest.

"You're worried that they'll take my voice next?" He asked.

Lucy nodded, clearly worried.

Natsu simply smirked and gave a dismissive scoff as he proceeded to gently slap the palm of his hand atop her head and mess up her blonde hair in a playful yet reassuring gesture. Lucy ducked her head in between her shoulders, her head bowing under his touch, and she pursed her lips into a tight frown.

"I'll be fine." He said.

Before the Celestial wizard could even blink or react, Natsu dashed around the corner to confront their enemy and Lucy's heart skipped several beats at that moment. Her eyeballs widened so much that they threatened to pop out from their sockets at that moment, her heart jumped high into her throat and she started to sweat bullets.

"No! Natsu! Don't do it!" She wanted to cry out after him but couldn't.

She had never felt so helpless as Natsu made his presence known to the bad guys.

However, unbeknownst to anyone, a familiar blue cat was hovering over the scene and watching worriedly from above.

What was going to happen now?!

* * *

**A/N:**** HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE! WE ARE OFFICIALLY IN THE YEAR OF 2020!**

**I hope you are having a great new year so far!**

**Here's a new chapter of Spellbound voice and it seems we are getting into the confrontation part, b****ut will it be the FINAL confrontation? I got the whistle idea from XSummergrey.X and ****I thought it was a great idea and could make for a nice NALU moment.**

**Thanks for the love, everyone.**

**I'll keep at it and believe me, I've got more exciting stuff in store.**

**-Chloemcg **


	9. Confrontation

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

The air was thick with tension.

There was this undercurrent of danger.

Lucy felt so helpless as Natsu wordlessly pushed passed her and simply nudged her out of the way with one hand, she could not help but feel totally worthless.

Actually, It felt as if gravity itself was trying to crush her from upwards and sideways.

Natsu managed to gently nudge her so she stood helplessly behind him and he then peered around the corner of the building that both Lucy and himself semi-hid themselves behind...alas, what the hot-headed fire wizard had seen made his eyes widen considerably.

Natsu felt especially dumbstruck as he saw something he hadn't expected.

He slowly stepped forwards with his eyes focused completely on the small group clearly doing business or something; he thought he'd try sneaking up on them to surprise them and then beat the whole lot of them into a pile of bleeding pulps.

The group had gathered in a small circle and spoke in hushed whispers as to avoid any possible flies on the wall. They didn't think that anyone had spotted them but they didn't wish to risk their secret dealings being exposed either, they had been forced to intermingle with the villagers in order to blend in and to avoid placing any suspicion on themselves.

The main person that stood out amongst them, however, was the tallest out of the bunch.

"So you actually managed to capture a voice of one of those dumb Fairies?" One of the hooded figures (a man) sniggered.

"Yes, her voice is contained in this necklace..." The rogue wizard known as "the poacher of sound" explained. "She was just _asking _for it when she decided to torment me so I decided to teach her a lesson."

He said nothing more afterwards as he unveiled that same necklace which functioned as the container for said voice and showed it off to his accomplices. The charm was a wooden chamber in the shape of a lightning bolt which contained a bright yellow glow of an aura shining within; the glowing aura was most certainly Lucy's voice, except it had taken on a more visible and somewhat physical appearance.

The poacher of sound started wearing an unbearably smug smirk on his lips as he waited for a sec after showing off what he'd stolen.

"I had done a bit of reading up on Celestial wizards and their spirits. I keep her voice, the only thing that summons them in this necklace then I could make sure those spirits stay in their stupid world and make it so that girl's fighting spirit leaves her."

Natsu's body shook and trembled with rage whilst plumes of fire spurted from his nostrils and he grit his fangs as he kept his eyes focused on the group he had every intention on beating up.

He couldn't believe it.

That was this guy's plot?

To keep Lucy's voice locked away in some necklace and make it so her spirits cannot converse with her? Until all of her motivation and her spirit leaves her? The pinkette felt his heart pound in response to what was just discussed —whether this was the result of fury of the result of heartache, he didn't know— and he could just imagine what would happen if he succeeded...Lucy would be in absolute bits.

Natsu snarled in a hushed volume.

Just the thought of a devastated Lucy made his entire body pound with rather subdued rage and fury so, upon glancing back for a second, he took notice that Lucy looked just as enraged —she most likely wanted to sucker punch that guy for _daring _to talk about her Celesital sprint friends like that!

"Now." The sound thief spoke up in a rather light and conversational tone of voice. "Is anyone interested in these sounds I'm selling?"

The Dragon slayer couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey you!"

After calling the lot of them out, Natsu struck like lightning as he lunged at the group and threw the first (flaming) punch.

"**FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!**" He bellowed as his fist collided with the man's cheek.

The impact caused the thief of sound to be sent hurtling backwards, but he managed to catch himself as he skidded a bit on his two feet, he sent a near evil scowl to the fire wizard and Natsu's eyes blazed an emerald green colour as he scowled right back.

The two silently glared at one another for a second.

"Give Lucy her voice back...NOW!" Natsu heatedly demanded, gnashing his fangs at his opponent.

The voice stealer shook his head in outright refusal, obviously not at all intimidated by the enraged Dragon slayer.

Natsu's entire body combusted into flames that threatened to rise into the skies and he charged into the man with as much force as he could put into thrusting himself forth. He shot into the wizard's stomach, ramming his head right into his gut, sort of like a goat head butting with its spiral horns, and he sent the voice stealer —known as Lancer— flying back until he hit a pile of unopened crates that had been stuffed and stacked into the alleyway.

The impact the wizard had made ended up causing a few of the crates to break and explode into a pile of splinters and planks of wood. The rogue villain glanced up hatefully at the enraged Dragon slayer as he seethed through tightly-clenched teeth.

"You honestly think that I, Lancer Gregor, would surrender to a bunch of Fairy Tail whimps like you!?"

In amidst the chaos and fighting, the rest of the potential "buyers" had dispersed during the fighting and took off running in separate directions to avoid getting tangled up in a fight with the famed Natsu Dragneel of Fairy tail, a mage rumoured to be a ridiculously powerful yet stubborn fire wizard.

They ran off into the night.

Natsu hardly hesitated before he charged yet again at the villain and proceeded to lunge himself at him like some sort of vicious wild animal with only instincts driving it.

The two wrestled angrily as punches were thrown, kicks were landed, cries of pain flew from their respective mouthes. They were so wild in their attacks that Lucy (nor anyone else) could tell who was winning anymore; all logic was actually thrown out the window and they kept right on attacking one another as they tumbled about in their wrestling match, looking like a ball rolling all over the place as they fought to pin one another.

For fifteen straight minutes, Natsu and the poacher of sounds went for each other's throats.

It didn't take long for the villain to gain the upper hand, however.

With a well-placed solid kick to the face, the fire wizard had finally ended up staggering away from Lancer whilst he painfully grabbed at his own wounded side.

He breathed hard to regain some of his breath due to the effort he had just exerted.

The sound-stealing wizard smirked to himself with a cruel gleam glistening within his eyes.

This was a perfect opportunity!

Without wasting a second, Lancer came charging at the pinkette with a new-found energy. He stomped up to Natsu and held a fist back in preparation to punch him and he wore a demonic smirk on his face as he stalled for a second to put as much force, effort and rage into that punch.

Who knows?

Maybe he could steal _this guy's_ voice next?

Natsu didn't dare cower before his foe but he did flinch as he slammed his eyes shut in preparation of him to do something.

He waited...and waited...but nothing happened.

The Dragon slayer was curious.

Why wasn't anything happening?

Why hadn't he felt the blow yet?

That curiosity he felt took the better of him until he peeled open one eye and what he saw stunned him:

Lucy was now standing in front of him and the poacher of sound, putting herself in between both the Dragon slayer and the sound-stealing wizard that were locked in combat seconds beforehand. Not only did she have her arms spread out to the side and her legs slightly spread apart, but she also wore an intense scowl on her face as she stood in what looked like an X shape.

She wasn't going to let anyone harm Natsu, she didn't even care if she was defenceless right now!

She didn't want Natsu to get hurt and this was _her _voice and she refused to sit out on the sidelines.

Before she could even blink, however, something happened.

Natsu watched in horror as the Poacher of sound delivered a vicious blow to Lucy's face, striking her right in her eye.

Time seemed to slow down until it appeared that everything was moving in slow motion.

The force of that smack could have caused the earth to shake as the sound of the impact that hand made to Lucy's face reverberated throughout the entire area. Lucy's eye blackened and started to the size of a mid-sized balloon, swelling up as it oozed with tears. She stumbled backwards in a mix of shock and surprise as she grabbed her bruised eye whilst groaning silently in pain; her mouth tight but her teeth clenched tightly.

She couldn't deny that the punch hurt like crazy and her eye was throbbing right now.

Natsu just stood there as he watched the Celestial wizard stagger backwards from the opponent, looking the most helpless that he had ever seen her.

Lucy had just tried to protect him, even if that meant that she would put herself in danger.

Natsu had to admit that he wasn't too surprised since Lucy was that kind of person but he couldn't deny that he felt this foreign rage that he couldn't recall feeling before or since. This man had harmed Lucy...he dared to lay a hand on her...first he steal both her voice and several other sounds but now he took it a step too far.

His eyes were wide but his whole body trembled yet it wasn't from fear, but from silent fury.

_How dare he...!_

Natsu felt this fury that he hadn't felt for a long time ignite in his soul, lighting it on fire.

His onyx eyes flashed jade, his face twisted and contorted into the darkest scowl ever recorded, and he grit his teeth into monstrous fangs that started to sharpen in his gums, his fingernails sharpened from dull and blunted regular nails and into sharp claws that could easily sheer off the wool of a full grown ram —the same happened to his toenails. Red-tinted scales started to form under his eyes, the base of his arms, around the sides of his face, just below his hairline, and cover his skin in random patches.

His posture became one similar to that of a wild animal.

He had activated Dragon force.

The heat that started to radiate from his very being, causing everyone who was still there, to back away from him since the wave of blazing torridness, was so intense that even the air started to sizzle and ripple around him. He let out an inhuman growl that rumbled from the very depths of his throat, making him sound much more intimidating.

True, he was exhausted as he felt like he had drained almost every last drop of his magic power, he was covered in cuts and bruises from the scuffle he had just been involved in and he was exhausted and breathless beyond comprehension.

He refused to let those factors stop him, though!

He grit his fangs tight and seethed heavily, preparing to charge this guy yet again but then his ear perked when he heard something. He raised his head and glanced skywards, towards the source of the noise, and he was shocked when a cobalt blue thing streaked across the sky and soared down towards Natsu, Lucy and their opponent.

"HOLD ON, GUYS, I'M COMING!" Happy shouted as he finally arrived on the scene.

The blue feline flew over to immediately assist Lucy.

She had apparently been rendered quite winded after this man smacked the daylights out of her. As a matter of fact, she hadn't even noticed that the Dragon slayer's temper had boiled over at seeing her get hurt and had sent the sound stealer out of the village.

Natsu lit his fist on fire, roared angrily at him and sucker punched him.

"HAAAAH!"

He uppercut the man in that single punch.

It only took Natsu a second to realise his error and he grimaced inwardly when he realised that his punch had caused the sound stealer to be sent sailing through the sky and away into the distant horizon...the necklace going with him.

Natsu's stomach dropped.

Maybe he had gone a tad overboard.

He hadn't meant to send the guy flying away...

"Oops."

Deciding to focus on Lucy for now, he breathlessly panted as he turned to face her with his eyes wide.

Lucy stood still but seemed unsteady on her feet. Her one good eye had widened considerably but was glazed over, showing absolutely no emotion or feeling whatsoever. She seemed to be unaware of anything going on right now as she started to rock back and fourth on her heels.

The salmon/pink-haired pyro finally realised that she was about to lose her footing and quickly jerked himself into motion.

He didn't want to risk her hurting her head when she fell!

He promptly dashed forwards as the Celestial wizard finally toppled and was about to hit the floor...only to be caught in the arms of Natsu as he sat down on folded knees with her and then he repositioned her in his embrace, now cradling her frail body in his strong yet (still) scale-covered arms much like one would with a baby.

"Lucy!" He called out, his tone a strange mix of hushed and soft concern to a loud and stern burst of worry. "Lucy! Can you hear me?! Look at me!"

Nothing...

Lucy just feebly looked up into the salmon-haired dragon slayer's deep, brave obsidian eyes. She snuggled even closer into the comforting warmth of his bare chest, she let out a soft sigh of contentment as she gripped tightly to his silk black vest with as much strength as she could muster despite her weakening body.

Natsu looked down at the young woman in his arms with pure concern.

He unfurled one of his arms from around Lucy and slid a hand beneath her so he could press the palm of his hand against her upper back. It was after he did that he proceeded to push quite firmly as he gingerly assisted Lucy in sitting up on her own.

She had to lean on him quite heavily at first but she eventually managed to sit up with little to no support whatsoever.

Lucy hung her head so low that shadows concealed her eyes, thus hiding what sort of emotions she felt at that moment. However the tears that spilt down her cheeks were unmistakable. Her lower lip stuck out and quivered violently as she subconsciously gripped on to her knees. Her posture was stuck in a serious slouch and her back bounced up and down as she began to sob.

She acted as though someone had drug her down into the deepest pits of Tartarus, chewed up and then spat right back out again.

Lucy's gaze was empty and impassive.

Natsu eventually pulled her to her feet, helping the silent wizard to her feet —she finally looked up, inadvertently revealing her newly-acquired black eye. He carefully draped an arm over her shoulder to try and keep her standing on her feet.

"L-Lucy! Y-Y-Your eye...!" Happy cried out.

Lucy said nothing as her facial expression was unreadable for the most part, she didn't even react to Happy's sudden exclamation.

She could only focus on how the rogue wizard had fled with her voice and a plethora of other sounds and noises he had filched from the city. Her heart and her eye pulsated painfully as she tried to come to terms with this and shake off the overwhelming failure she felt accrue in her heart and her mind.

Happy said nothing more as he climbed into her lap and nuzzled her, rubbing his own cheek up against her abdomen in an affectionate gesture.

Natsu looked her dead in the eye and frowned at her.

"Lucy...please, Luce, I'm here. I won't let them put another hand on ya."

Was she in shock?

She didn't look quite right.

He felt his heart grow heavy as he realised that he _needed _to get her back to Fairy tail. He couldn't help her right where they were because he had _no _idea how to heal people when they got hurt, he needed to get her back to the guild where she could get that eye tended to.

"C'mon, Lucy, time to get up." He spoke, trying to smooth the guilt from his voice but sound soft and soothing at the same time.

He couldn't help but grimace at the sight of the stellar wizard's severely swollen eye; it was truly beginning to show signs of bruising and the eye was clearly not doing so good as the sclera on that eye was beginning to gain red streaks and turn a shade that was similar to the Dragon slayer's hair.

Natsu and Happy simultaneously cringed at the sight.

That was going to turn into a black eye for sure...

Natsu and Happy glanced at one another and nodded simultaneously, it was time to return.

"C'mon, we gotta go get you patched up..." Said the pink-haired fire wizard.

Natsu bent down, scooped Lucy up into his arms so he could carry her bridal-style, straightened his posture as he felt Happy grab on to a portion of the clothing on his sleeveless waistcoat and activated his Aera magic in order to spread both of his wings.

Happy took Natsu and Lucy into the air and started to fly them both back towards the guild.

The three flew back to Magnolia in silence.

* * *

**A/N: Heres a new chapter, and heres the confrontation between Natsu and Lucy, only for Lucy to get caught in the middle of the fight, Happy arrives on the scene, and it seems that Natsu went a tad overboard. What will happen when our heroes when they arrive back at the guild.**

**I hope you lot have a good evening.**

**This might be the last update for some time but I'll update as much as I can.**

**Don't forget to review and fave.**

**-Chloemcg **


	10. Punishing presence

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

The trip back to Magnolia was mostly silent but there was this obvious brooding.

Lucy felt so nervous.

Never before had she had to endure the wrath of the master, she had heard stories about his fury but she felt all the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and goosebumps dot along her arms at the mere thought of it —it was nerve-wracking. Even still, she couldn't keep herself from thinking about how upset she was at Natsu since that moron had possibly wrecked her chance at getting back her voice.

It was possibly her _only _chance, too...

It took a solid three hours until Happy, Natsu, and Lucy had all arrived back to the guild and they were greeted with a rather hostile reception as they made their entrance. The trio couldn't bare to face their friends as both Natsu and Lucy felt all eyes of disappointment and disapproval fall on them and burn holes into their souls.

Happy hovered closely near Lucy and Natsu, an anxious look befalling his little cat face.

He didn't know why they had left him behind when he wanted to help out. He could have helped, why did they not let him be involved? They were a trio, weren't they? Like the three musketeers? He had decided to not ask them anything right now since he knew how they were about to get a severe chewing out by the master, he could feel the rage and anger _radiating _from within the master's room.

It wasn't until the three entered the room until it was discovered that the master was absolutely furious.

The elderly man practically went for their throats the _instant _his eyes landed on the two mages as they reluctantly stepped foot into the room.

His anger was more directed at Natsu, though.

Lucy just stood near the door with her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and near-terror etched upon her face.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TROUBLE YOU ARE IN!?"

The Guild master screeched in a fit of rage —He yelled incoherently while he scowled at Natsu, the sheer volume his voice caused the room to quake and tremble as if a fissure was opening in the floor below, his eyes narrowed in a very stern glare. His face was a bright hot red and steam blew from his bald forehead as well as his ears and he slammed both fists down upon the arm rests of his wheelchair.

The pink-haired young man stood before him had his head lowered and he nervously fidgeted on the spot while he tried to look at the floor and avoid looking into the disappointed eyes of the master.

"Natsu! You knew full well that Lucy can't fight for herself right now, you put both of yourselves in danger! Do you realise how foolish and irresponsible you have been?"

Natsu wanted to point out that he wasn't even present for the meeting earlier that same day but he decided against it, he didn't want to raise the old man's ire further. He grit his fangs and narrowed his eyes, shutting his eyes, his posture stiffening.

Spittle flew all over the place.

The Dragon slayer of fire couldn't help but wince at the harsh tone.

The master was yelling so much that his words dulled into the background, becoming a soft drone.

Lucy didn't even hear him anymore.

She glanced down emptily at the floor below and thought.

Why was Natsu taking all the flack for this? Sure, she was upset with him and she would let him know about it later, but she couldn't let him shoulder all the blame when it was _her _who had begged for this. Her heart weighed heavily in her chest and her frown was so low that it made her facial muscles hurt and her eyes squeezed shut.

None of this was fair, none of this!

She knew that she had to take responsibility even though she dreaded the screaming that was probably going to be directed at her next.

She knew she had to do this.

She hardened her face and stepped forward with hard eyes (even her black eye was hardened) whilst she looked down at the wheelchair-bound Guild master. Her eyes were narrowed and she wore a huge frown on her face but she wasn't scowling in anger. She stepped up and stood right in front of Natsu, as though shielding him, and she silently thrust a finger towards herself as she looked at the guild master.

The old man stopped shouting, his face morphed from rage and disappointment into shock.

"Lucy, what are you doing?" He asked, the volume of his voice dwindling dramatically.

The blonde young woman's facial expression of determination never faltered once. She straightened her posture a bit and she reached behind her back, took out a piece of paper from behind her back and presented it to the master of the guild.

_'Master, what happened earlier wasn't Natsu's fault. It was mine.'_

The old man leaned in and had a look at the note and he studied it.

He could tell by the neat handwriting that it was the Celestial wizard herself that wrote this. He didn't say anything as he stared at the note he had just been passed, his eyes scanned the note carefully. His frown was tight, his fingertips tightened themselves around the paper and caused him to grip it so hard that the note crinkled under his fierce grip.

The atmosphere was electrifyingly intense.

After a lengthy few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the master glanced up, peering over the top of the note, and his face hardened visibly as his intensifying stare burned holes into both Lucy and Natsu's souls. His staring made both wizards feel really uncomfortable.

Finally, he spoke.

"You are both grounded. Neither of you will be allowed to leave the town for the rest of the week _or_ take any jobs."

Natsu and Lucy's jaws hit the floor.

"WHAT!?" Natsu exclaimed in shock. "That's not fair, Gramps!"

Lucy was stunned too. She thought she was a bit too old for groundings, but one quick angered look from Makarov was enough to intimidate her into silence (or even more silence) so she could begrudgingly accept her punishment. She folded her arms across her chest and glanced downwards in disbelief with her mouth agape while she tried to pick the rest of her jaw off the floor.

The old man looked sternly at the both of them, the look on his face alone making it clear that his words were final.

It was a look that made Lucy, Happy and Natsu all recoil.

"If you are going to behave like children then I'll treat you like children, now go."

Natsu and Lucy just couldn't believe any of this. They were being punished like they were still children, they couldn't believe it. They both felt a surge of shame shoot them in their hearts and they felt sorely disappointed in themselves —kind of like children being punished...which they clearly were in the eyes of the old man before them.

They said nothing as they hung their heads, closed their eyes, and proceeded to skulk right out of the office with their heads hung low and their postures sagging heavily.

Happy followed after them.

When Makarov was all alone again, he rubbed his temples irritably and he sighed exasperatedly.

Why couldn't they all understand that he just wanted to keep them safe from harm, to make sure his children didn't get themselves hurt? He didn't like punishing both Natsu and Lucy like that but they had put themselves in serious danger by trying to go after that confounded sound-poaching wizard.

He just couldn't stand by and watch.

"Those dumb kids...why can't they understand?"

* * *

**A/N: Heres a new chapter.**

**Sorry it isn't very long but I'm still working on the following chapters that I hope you lot will end up enjoying. You guys are awesome and I shall update as soon as I can.**

**Don't forget to fave and review, if that's ok.**

**-Chloemcg **


	11. Support from friends

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

A solemn air filled the inside of the Fairy tail guildhall.

Everybody in Fairy tail had been harbouring their own individual feelings of shock for what had transpired with Natsu and Lucy. How could she do that? What did she think everyone would feel if something ended up happening? Did she think at all? While they could understand her sense of responsibility, they couldn't condone breaking the rules like that.

Everyone wished to grant Lucy some leniency because of her condition but they knew that some punishment was in order...

Guild members such as Alzack with his wife, Bisca, and their daughter, Auska, danced around while some of the others provided some entertainment to try and dispel some of the sombreness that hung heavily in the air. The people on stag had tried to pick the heavy mood up, playing some light-hearted music to liven the guildhall up a little bit —alas, it was a futile effort given that everyone was on their feet and crowding violently around two recently-grounded guild members.

Everyone in the guild were stuck to both Natsu and Lucy like a scent clinging to roadkill the instant they had dared to exit the office of the master.

The two were promptly met with more scolding from _everyone _around them.

Erza took the lead and chewed them both out for not only defying the master's order to keep Lucy away from danger while the capability to use her magic power was as thin as a piece of paper. Her face was red hot as steam shot from her ears and her barked and yapped at them like some sort of enraged vicious dog —Titania even looked like she wanted to tear off both of their heads with her mouth at that moment and Lucy legitimately feared that Erza would do just that.

After a full half hour of shrieking her head off, Erza finally cooled herself a bit and decided to join Lucy as the latter ventured straight over towards one of the benches that was positioned in the very middle of the guildhall.

Almost everyone followed Lucy to the bench, trying not to crowd her but also trying to give her some space.

It didn't help much.

Lucy felt an uneasy chill ride up her spine as she made it to the bench and lowered herself to sit on the seat, pulled herself into the table, and let out a lengthy soundless sigh as her posture deflated like a balloon. Even though nobody heard it, they were sure they could sense the exasperation and dismay being heard within that sigh.

It was quite heartbreaking, to be honest...

Gray spoke up as he produced a duster from behind his back.

"Errrr...here ya go, Lucy. This should help with your eye."

Without another word, the ice mage and Natsu's rival passed Lucy a duster filled with ice to reduce the swelling to her horrific black eye, courtesy of his ice magic.

Giving a silent mouth of thanks, the stellar mage accepted it into her possession.

She clutched the duster containing ice for a second and pressed it firmly against her black eye, an obvious glum look spread across her face. Her one good brown eye shimmered softly and her frown was as long as a horses face, she not only looked bored out of her skull but she also looked hopeless...all the more heart-breaking.

She unique sort of disappointment radiated from her being.

She absentmindedly glanced off to the side for a sec and spotted Natsu whom was just sat in a corner at the bar area with Mirajane, eating himself silly.

Even though his back was turned to her and he was quite a distance away, Lucy could see that he had a massive bowl of something perched in front of him as he munched greedily away at whatever food selection he had chosen to devour as his lunch. He was shovelling food into his rather large gob faster than what has been known to be humanly possible, stuffing his face and his cheeks puffed out into the sides much like a chipmunk storing nuts into their mouth.

He was probably just trying to eat away his immense guilt...or he was just hungry and couldn't think of anything better to do right now so decided to leave Lucy alone with the others.

Lucy cringed, her face a unique yet momentary mask of disgust, amazement, astonishment and slight sympathy —alas her heart had grown heavier than the weight of a few couple mountains —maybe her heart was heavier than Mt. Hakobe, in fact.

She felt her throat feel like it was closing off but she had to shake off this sadness for now.

She was in the company of friends, after all, and she needed to not worry them.

Almost everyone in Fairy tail had tried to comfort their friend as they surrounded her and tried to express their worries, concerns and sympathies. They all watched her with worried and concerned eyes as they frowned at her as though trying to find any trace of sickness or something.

Gray stood next to Lucy as he stared down at her with a face full of pity but with an ounce of disappointment mixed in.

"C'mon, Lucy...please don't look so sad!" Pleaded the ice wizard in a surprisingly tender tone.

Lucy said nothing (of course) as Levy sat next to her.

Erza spoke up as she sat on the other side of Lucy and placed her own hand on her friend's other shoulder. The literal redhead started trying to gently reason with the muted mage, her eyes as soft as the wool the Celestial spirit Aries would cast with her spiritual magic.

"Lucy, we apologise for being hard on you like this but we need to keep you safe. We don't like seeing you like this and we just want to help..." she said.

Erza could not resist throwing a withering scowl over her shoulder in Natsu's direction.

The requip wizard/next-in-line guildmaster was keen to tear Natsu a new one after he recklessly put her in danger. True, Lucy had insisted she go anyway so she was almost as much to blame as the fire dragon slayer was; but, if she wanted to be honest with herself, she would have probably done the same if she was in her shoes. She didn't like the idea of other people trying to retrieve something that was yours and yours alone.

But what else could be done?

Erza didn't know how to handle this but she wanted her friend to know that she was there...but in other circumstances, she would just smack her across the head in response to such foolishness.

Lucy hung her head low but she did try and spare a smile to reassure everyone that everything was okay yet it appeared that nobody believed that for an instant...especially not with that horrifically swollen and puffy black eye that she still applied pressure to with the duster.

She could only muster up enough strength to pull the smallest of grins.

She might have been upset but that didn't mean she couldn't try and _pretend _to be happy for her friends.

"Hey, what's that? A whistle?" Levy pointed to the whistle hanging around Lucy's neck.

Lucy blinked at the solid scrip mage's question and she subconsciously, reached down and gripped on tight to the whistle she was still wearing. Almost every single cell in her body was screaming at her to just rip the item off of her neck and then toss it out the nearest window with as much strength as she could possibly muster in her ever-weakening state...but she couldn't.

She didn't know why but she just didn't have the heart to do such a thing.

Then she heard a tiny voice.

"...Lucy?"

Lucy blinked and noticed that Happy had waddled up to her and stood in front of her.

Unbeknownst to her, Natsu had finally decided to join everyone else at the bench. He had a look of perplexed confusion on his face as he noticed that his little blue cat friend had a look that suggested that he was about to burst into tears that could create a massive river and drown them all.

The blue feline snivelled.

"Why...why did you guys not come get me after you met up and destroyed that tavern? Did...d-d-did you not want me to come with ya?"

He was unable to look neither Lucy nor Natsu in the eye as he glanced down at his own tail which he was wringing and twisting anxiously in his two blue paws. It was worth noting that his little voice was tight with sadness and he had this edge to his tone tha suggested that he was five seconds away from busting into a waterfall of tears.

Lucy felt her heart crumble into teeny bits after the little blue cat asked that question and she felt a _massive _pang of guilt hit her in the heart full-force.

Her face was full of sympathy, worry, concern and slight agitation.

She hadn't meant to make Happy feel bad or anything about himself. Yes, he was annoying when he kept saying "I looooooooove you" in a taunting lovey-dovey moment in the midst of a conversation, but that didn't mean that she purposefully meant to leave him all alone and concerned like that. The blue feline meant a lot to everyone, and she hadn't meant to make the poor blue feline feel bad or anything.

Natsu reached over and scratched Happy behind his left ear.

"D'awwww, Happy...!" He exclaimed in a mix of shock and sympathy, "I'm sorry, little buddy! I didn't mean to leave ya high and dry like that..."

"We just met up together in the tavern and things went crazy from there, I promise that I would have come into the guild to fetch ya! You're my little buddy, I wouldn't get far anyway without you! You're part of this trio in our team..."

Happy sniffled, using his own tail to wipe away any lingering tears and then blowing into his nose.

It made a goose honk sound as he blew.

Hard.

Happy sighed since he supposed that he could understand.

He should have guessed that Natsu was in a brooding mood and needed some time but who knew that he'd go and attack a tavern just to try and locate the guy who had stolen Lucy's voice...that was just how the pink-haired fire wizard handled things when he got miffed by someone who had done his Fairy tail family wrong.

He just wished he could have been there to lend a paw.

Lucy and Natsu glanced to one another, the former looking quite pitiful; they couldn't believe that they left Happy behind, they definitely knew that they owed the blue cat a huge pile of fishes to compensate him being alone. They knew that they had to make it up to him somehow so he could forgive them...but they also couldn't risk leaving him behind again as they both would have been in dire straights if he had not swooped into save the day.

Happy noticed how close they seemed and couldn't help but smile a little.

"Soooo, are you two gonna tell me when you're getting married...?" Happy asked with a sly look overcoming his little cat facial features.

The mood changed immediately after that question was asked.

Lucy's face completely morphed from an expression of complete pity and into an evil look that suggested that she wanted to wring Happy's (nonexistent) neck. She scowled silently at him with a baited breath and her face reddened considerably.

There goes that sweet moment...

As she kept pressing the duster to her eye, the stellar wizard of Fairy tail could have sworn that the atmosphere took a sudden shift in tone and mood. Her good eye widen and her gaze trailed over to Natsu and Happy.

She watched while she saw a mischievous smirk sweep over Natsu's lips.

He pounced.

He reached over and proceeded to pull him close and tight, catching the young exceed by surprise, and started to give him a noogie. The small blue cat squirmed frantically as he burst out into hysterical laughter as he tried to get himself free from the delightful form of torture. He could feel Natsu rub his head with his clenched fist so hard that Happy was almost worried that he would start conducting electricity very soon.

"Hey! Stop that! Lemme go! Ha ha ha ha ha! No fair!" Squealed Happy as he kept wriggling.

Lucy just rolled her eyes and shook her head.

This was typical behaviour from the both of them.

She started to stand up from the bench seat, using her arms to push herself up, and she started to meander towards the exit of the guildhall. She almost didn't notice Natsu and Happy start to follow her out the door and she just exhaled defeatedly through her nostrils.

It was time to get back to her apartment...

* * *

**A/N: Heres a new chapter, guys!**

**I hope you guys are having a great time reading this.**

**I am enjoying writing this a lot and im getting the rest of the story ready.**

**Don't forget to review and fave, guys! :D**

-**Chloemcg**


	12. A silenced heart

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

After taking their (somewhat) fair share of licks and yelling from their guild mates, Lucy had decided to head on back to her apartment.

The walk was long and tedious, she was exhausted, she just wanted to get some sleep to try and rid herself of this shame and disappointment that swam through her veins and clouded her mind. Her posture was heavy as she plodded down the pathway that led to her home.

She just wanted to draw a bath so she could immerse herself in the lipid bath water.

The thought made her shiver with the tiniest twinge of delight.

But she was just tired...even the thought exhausted her.

It felt like an eternity went by by the time she reached her home and opened the front door; the first thing she did when she entered her bedroom was grab a damp cloth for her black eye before she stomped straight to her bed and take up a seat on the edge of the bed in a pouty mood. She had a look so sour that it could not only make about ten jars full of pickled plums inadequate.

She folded her legs across her lap whilst she kept her gaze downcast while she started glaring down at the notebook being held upon her lap hatefully.

Her face contorted with silent anger that threatened to spill out any moment.

The Celestial wizard couldn't stand being around anyone anymore and just wanted some time to think...only problem with that was Natsu had decided to accompany her to make sure she wasn't all alone or anything...plus, she was almost certain that he was just trying to make up for what he had done.

All she could do now, though, was contemplate and reflect.

She never imagined that she'd get lectured by Gramps like that, Erza she could understand...but the master? But she supposed that she did deserve this in some way or another...maybe if she'd been faster then she could have been more helpful to recapture her own voice.

That and she _did _break the rule that he set for her.

Even though her eye pulsated painfully, she firmly pressed the cold cloth to it to try and get the swelling and puffiness to go down and reduce in its severity. Her mouth formed a tight frown as she gazed aimlessly at the carpet of her bedroom in a silent "cold shoulder" manner.

That was when Natsu decided to take up a seat right next to the muted Celestial wizard.

She couldn't contain her scowl and her brown eyes bore flames of anger and her nose wrinkled at the bridge as she pursed her lips together, tightening her look of infuriation towards the pink-haired fire didn't even so much as turn her head to see what was weighing down her duvet, she knew it was Natsu and she didn't want to talk to him right now.

Natsu sensed the silent rage his friend was in and reached up to scratch the back of his own head sheepishly.

"Would...would it help if I apologised?" He asked weakly.

The answer to that question was immediate and clear.

She let out a silent snarl as she just turned her head away from him and folded an arm across her chest, one hand still firmly pressing a damp cloth against her black eye. Her being practically radiated with silent and subdued fury and it was palpable enough that everyone in Fairy tail could sense it as they stared at her with great unease.

Natsu flinched inwardly.

Clearly that was a solid no.

He sighed.

He thought not...

The pink-haired pyro placed both hands on his knees, let his posture sag like a sack of potatoes, and hung his head low as he thought about what he could tell his friend to snap her out of her dark mood. Even the tails of his scarf brushed against his lap. His eyes closed and he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. His brain started to hurt as he thought about what he could say.

After a moment or two, though, he decided to try and lift some of the tension.

He cracked a half-hearted smile, revealing his glinting fangs.

"I guess I went a little overboard again, huh?"

No reply.

He just kept getting a view of the back of Lucy's head, he could still sense the rage brewing within her, he could smell it. He stared down at his own hands in deep thought for several moments. He knew that he went overboard with knocking that sound-stealing guy all the way to a different location...but he didn't think that warranted the cold shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Luce. Really. If it's about the tavern we can pay for it with the reward we get for our next job...when we get ungrounded, that is..."

Still no reply.

Natsu started to feel his own frustration build up inside. He lifted his hands off of his lap and proceeded to throw them into the air in an "I give up" fashion whilst he gave an exasperated sigh born of agitation.

"Lucy, c'mon! I'm really trying here...!" He cried.

Lucy couldn't stand to look at him, but that was mostly because she was afraid that if she did then she'd burst into tears on the spot.

She didn't make a sound but she did start tapping her foot on the ground in an irritated rhythm.

The seconds ticked by.

Her taps quickened.

She felt the heat rush to her cheeks as they took on a reddened hue, unbeknownst to her, whilst both of her eyes filled with tears as she started to cry and those large tears not only oozed from her eyeballs (especially her black eye) but also rolled down her cheeks. She wrapped both arms around own chest, hugging herself, digging her own chin into her chest, and she hung her head heavily and closed her good eye in a mix of guilt and shame.

This was when her train of thought started to fly and barrel right off the tracks —causing her mind to generate more thoughts then what should be humanly possible while the realisation of her situation started to hit her harder then it ever had before.

Her chest heaved in and out rapidly as she began to breathe in a hysterical rhythm.

This was her fault.

All of it.

It was all so unfair, this shouldn't be happening.

She just couldn't be mute forever...!

But what if she was? What if that guy who kept her voice locked up had actually and permanently silenced her in a more literal sense? How could she live in eternal silence? How would she ever speak to her friends again? How would she communicate to her loved ones? How could she...how could she live without her spirits!?

All those thoughts hit her with the impact of a bomb dropping to the ground.

She practically _exploded _into a tirade right then and there. Her mouth was moving rapidly and she was practically spitting "words" even though no sound burst from her lungs whatsoever. Her eyes were as wide as dinner plates, her face was red, her body trembled and quaked like the earth, her fingers dug deep into the chair she sat on. Fresh tears started to flow and cascade in a seemingly endless stream down her cheeks.

Even though it was clear she was speaking (the movements of her mouth made that obvious), nobody could even try and lip-read to understand her.

Spit started to fly all over the place as she voicelessly ranted and breathed hard.

Natsu, thankfully, noticed this.

His eyes widened and he grew quite alarmed at the sight.

"Lucy!? H-Hey...!"

Lucy couldn't control her breathing anymore, her heart was pounding harder than it ever had in her entire life. Her lungs kept begging for oxygen even though she was sucking in as much as her chest could possibly allow.

She also felt this intense rage and fury that she had _never _felt before.

The fire dragon slayer, meanwhile, was at a loss.

How could he comfort her?

He didn't know what to do...!

Lucy's one good eye opened (while the other just stayed shut) and narrowed into slits of fury and she slapped open her notebook, ripped out a piece of paper from within with her reddened face tight with frustration, and she proceeded to violently crumble it up and then threw it across the room until it landed on her plush pink bedroom carpet.

That was when she broke down into a silent, weeping, snivelling mess.

Her tantrum consisted of heavy sobs, sniffles, and clenched teeth as she seemed to hiss silently.

Natsu panicked.

He wasn't used to calming crying people!

He had to do something!

He uneasily extended his left arm and then wrapped it around the sobbing stellar wizard. He could feel her body tense up beneath his touch but he made sure to hold on fast and tight as his hand hooked on to her side. Instinctively, he started to stroke her side up and down in hopes that it would soothe her.

"Lucy! You gotta calm down...!" He whispered urgently.

Lucy gasped and sniffled in response.

"Just breathe, Luce...breathe..."

Natsu's hand kept on rubbing up and down along her shoulder, arm and waist in a repetitive motion. He felt it under the palm of his hand as the tension in her body started to ease off gradually, this was giving him some encouragement that whatever he was doing was working.

His onyx eyes were filled with patience —something that was rare to show itself in Natsu's face at all...in fact seeing _any _kind of patience on the Dragon slayer's face was rarer than diamonds!

He tried to calm his own breathing in hopes that she'd copy him. He sucked in deep breaths via his nostrils, waited for about five seconds before releasing those same breaths, he tried his best not to breathe too fast or anything since his goal was to calm her down. As he breathed, he could feel his own pulse and heartbeat slow to a near stop, he kept trying to speak to her as he did this.

"Focus on my voice, Lucy. Listen to me."

Lucy started to breathe a bit more as she felt calmed by the fire wizard's voice.

Natsu kept encouraging her.

"C'mon, Luce, thatta girl..."

Lucy tried to push away from Natsu's side and shook her head feebly, Natsu just tightened his embrace and held her even tighter.

_"N-N-Natsu...I..I can't take this..."_ She wanted to say that, but she couldn't and that fact hurt her more than anything else could.

Natsu had no idea as to what she wanted to say but he wanted to just make her feel better.

He shushed her, his voice a low and tender whisper.

"Shhhhhh...it's okay. I'm here...just keep breathing..." He soothed.

Lucy ceased all resistance and let herself fall limp in Natsu's arms, her shallow yet rapid breathing slowed and she felt her pulse slow down drastically. She could feel it as Natsu threaded his fingers through her long blonde locks of hair as through they were thick pieces of string. The tears continued to fall and her chin quivered as she kept right on crying.

The fire dragon slayer's arms were so strong and muscular, his body was warm and he smelt like a campfire.

Lucy stayed in Natsu's arms for what felt like an eternity, it took ages for her tears to dry up and she just leaned her head right up against Natsu's chest and listened to his heartbeat which was oddly soothing to her as she breathed in time with the gentle and slow beat of his heart.

Her face felt red, was hot like magma and sticky thanks to the tears.

Her heart pounded hard in her chest.

She eventually pulled away from him, peeling herself off of his chest, straightened her posture and exhumed a deep breath. She bent down and picked her notebook off of the floor one-handed and flipped it open to a random pages. It took her a minute to grab a pen and scribble down a note.

'_You must think I'm being dumb, right?'_

Lucy handed the note over, attempting to wipe away any lingering tears by using the cuff of her sleeve with her free arm.

Natsu took the note from her, read it and shook his head with eyes wide with surprise.

"Lucy! You're not dumb at all! What happened today wasn't your fault, and you didn't have to stand up for me like that!" He exclaimed incredulously.

He stared deep into her coffee brown eyes (even her black one) and he could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat.

He never stopped to notice it but she was so beautiful.

Natsu had always been one to rush ahead into situations without thinking so he never seemed to let his mind work, absorb certain surroundings properly nor let it sink in —he was more of a fighter than a lover, after all.

"I promise that I will get your voice back. I won't rest until I do!"

He leaned over towards the silent Celestial wizard and went to say more, his scale-crafted scarf tails flying about in the air, but then he felt his hand move and plant itself on top of something.

Natsu and Lucy both glanced down in shock and surprise when they noticed that their hands were now resting atop one another; Lucy had no idea that her hand was resting on top of Natsu's and she couldn't help but feel her face light up like fireworks in the night. Her lips quivered and trembled and the pupils of her eyes (even her black eye) shrunk as she felt a massive tidal wave of embarrassment crash over her.

The two Fairy tail wizards snapped their heads up and stared deep into each other's eyes.

Both of their hearts pounded even harder in their chests as they kept their gazes locked on one another. Even though they had been through a lot tonight, they didn't want to think about all the pain that they had gone through as of late.

They just wanted to hold on to each other as they both felt their cheeks flush a bright scarlet colour.

In the meantime, all Lucy could think was one thing:

"I'm holding Natsu's hand, I'm holding Natsu's hand, I'm holding Natsu's hand, I'm holding Natsu's hand. I'm HOLDING Natsu's hand!"

Without warning, though, the two wizards heard a soft laugh and glanced towards the room door.

Happy had peered into the room, two paws covering his mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter.

"You two are in looooooooooooooooooooooooove!" Cooed the blue feline.

Natsu and Lucy stared at the giggly blue cat and their faces immediately turned beet red, embarrassment instantly caused the blood to rush into their faces and they felt as though steam was blowing from their ears. Why did Happy have to show up now?

Natsu immediately started to shriek, startled.

"HAPPY! NOT COOL!"

Lucy could feel her vocal chords vibrate as she let out a silent burst of laughter.

Oblivious to her amusement to their non-violent quarrel, Natsu continued to snap at Happy to leave the room with his face as red a scarlet red and a vein pulsating on his forehead. He gnashed his fangs at the blue feline and waved his fist in the air whilst shaking it for emphasis, his eyes glowed red for a minute and smoke blew from his nostrils.

"C-CAN YOU _PLEASE _GIVE US A MINUTE...?"

Happy hardly seemed phased at all by the embarrassed anger his friend/brother/father-figure's yelling and waddled off into a different room whilst grinning a cheeky grin. His eyes were narrowed and he had a sly look glinting in his eyes like the blade of a sword, he even placed both paws behind his back. His worm-like, white-tipped tail swirled around in the air.

"Hehehehehe...!"

He snickered to himself mischievously as he made his exit.

The young exceed seemed to have cheered up a considerable amount after the conversation that was had prior to leaving the guild, and while she did feel _very _embarrassed that he decided to wreck the moment, she decided to let it roll off her shoulder.

Once the kit was out of sight, Natsu's hands flew up to cover his face and he huffed.

He couldn't possibly have been humiliated further.

Lucy smirked to herself evilly when an idea dawned on her.

This was a grand opportunity, this was going to be golden! Besides, she had been wanting to get some revenge on Natsu (as well as Happy) for this one thing for ages since it had been driving her fairly batty. She would have laughed evilly too if she had her voice. She didn't think she'd get another chance like this!

She tapped the Dragon slayer's shoulder to get his attention.

Natsu turned his head to see what Lucy wanted but he didn't even have time to do anything before her fist crashed down hard on top of his head.

The force caused Natsu to tumble and fall right off the bed, landing hard on the hard floor below. Eyelids snapping shut, the disgruntled fire wizard let out a loud yelp as he quickly reached up and held his sore head to try and ease the pain that was now there; he could already feel a bump against his scalp, he winced when he merely touched it.

The pink-haired pyro was in so much pain that he even let out a slight hiss of a noise through his tightly-gnashed fangs.

He rubbed tenderly at his own head, forced open an eye and looked painfully up at Lucy.

"Owww...What did you do that for?" He asked her with irritation tight in his voice.

Lucy sat on the edge of the bed and replied to that question with a fold of her arms across her chest and a rather demonic smirk curled at the corners of her lips.

Natsu continued to stroke at his own forehead tenderly to try and rub his own pain away, moaning in discomfort. Somehow he knew exactly what that was for, especially just by looking straight into her eyes and his facial expression couldn't help but droop into a sour yet dark glare.

"...Was that payback for all the times I broke into your room?"

Lucy let out a soundless chuckle and nodded.

* * *

**A/N: Heres a new chapter, guys!**

**I thought I should add some romance in here...and some funny moments too!**

**I had this chapter in the works for a very long time, I thought that Lucy needed some revenge for all the times Natsu and Happy had decided to break into her apartment...plus I thought it would be funny. But worry not, guys, I have the rest of the story planned out and I'm just working on the rest of the story.**

**I hope you all have a great day!**

**-Chloemcg**


	13. Melodic heart-to-heart

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Two days passed by since Natsu and Lucy had been grounded from going on any jobs or leaving the town of Magnolia.

Ever since then, Lucy had dawdled in the guild whilst she tried to dull the screaming of the voices of her thoughts that pounded inside her head. She swore that the longer she was without her voice, the more thoughts that started to bounce around in her mind with no way to get them out, not even with her notebook. This prison of silence that was her own body was not only becoming annoying but she was getting sick of being a mute.

It was because of that that she tried to find anything she could as a means to distract herself.

It was driving her batty!

Without much to occupy herself with, the blonde Celestial wizard of Fairy tail meandered through the guild until she accidentally stumbled across something in the rather-concealed cellar that nobody ever ventures down for some reason.

There were cobwebs stuck to the walls and ceiling, dust particles filtered through the air and a thick layer of it covered disused furnishings and other random items that just so happened to have been laying about, including the banister leading down into the cellar, there was also some creaky old stairs that led down into the cellar where there was a wooden floor and concrete walls. Lots of items with missing legs, worn away/rotting wood, or some imperfection was stored down there.

Lucy gripped hold of the banister, although she could feel the dust suck into her lungs and she couldn't hold back a cough or two...albeit silent coughs.

When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw it.

A large wooden contraption made with pure black material, a small stool parked right beside it.

Lucy's eyes sparkled in awe.

She had no idea the guild had been concealing a piano...!

Without even hesitating, she sat down on the stool in front of the piano.

She glanced down at the black and white keys, her brown eyes were large and curious. She couldn't recall the last time that she had played the piano...maybe it was before her mother died? Perhaps it was even before her father died? She just knew that she played it long ago when she was a child.

_"I wonder if I can...still remember how to play it?"_ She thought to herself.

The silenced stellar mage decided then and there to answer that query.

While her black eye was still throbbing and still slightly swollen, it wasn't nearly as swollen as it was two days prior —as she played the piano, her mind and thoughts wandered elsewhere.

Her eyes became misty as a wistful frown swept across her lips.

Ever since they had received their grounding, Natsu had either done one of two things:

Eat everything in sight due to utter boredom (but what else was new?), or just not bother coming in to the guild and sneak off to do something with Happy.

What Natsu and Happy were doing, however, nobody had a clue but didn't feel it necessary to kick up a fuss or fret too much about it so nothing was really done about their secretive behaviour. Nobody could conceal their skepticism, however, since it was crystal clear that those two were up to something.

However, over the duration of those last couple days, Lucy had realised something.

Something dawned on her.

She hadn't noticed it until now but she noticed that her heartbeat would always exhilarate whenever she saw Natsu or was in close proximity to him plus she would always feel her stomach become more twisted than a pretzel. She would have been lying to herself if she claimed that she didn't fancy the pink-haired pyro from the first time she laid eyes on him when they met in Hargeon, but she started to realise that her feelings had only amplified recently.

Part of her _hated _these feelings because they slowly nibbled away at her sanity, yet she couldn't help but also find them...pleasant.

She wondered whether or not Natsu liked her too?

Lucy felt as her fingers danced across the keys delicately, each press of each combination of keys creating a beautiful melody from the large black instrument. The melody she played had a somewhat somber feel to it as her fingers delicately caressed each key to add to her enchanting musical reverie. The tune of the song she weaved was somber yet haunted, however it was also graceful and it was a melody that glided through the air.

She could feel the music brush and vibrate beneath her fingertips.

She couldn't help but be reminded her of when she, herself, was a child and she would sit on her mother's lap while her mother played the piano. Her mother also would guide her little hands over the keys and they would play a song together...even if her own musical talents were _nowhere _near as good as they were currently.

Those were such happy times and she couldn't help but let a sweet, tender smile grace her lips as she felt at peace for the first time in awhile.

She closed her eyes to let her mind to absorb the peace and quiet she revelled in.

"Very nice piano playing there,"

Lucy's eyes snapped wide open.

She knew that voice!

She almost jumped out of her skin and her concentration broke, causing her fingertips to slip and slam down into the piano keys and, thus, producing a horrendous sound from the piano. She whipped her head about to search for the owner of the voice who had interrupted her state of blissful reverie when her gaze fell on a certain scarlet-haired, armour clad requip-wizard.

Erza was standing right behind her...

When the piano produced that awful sound, she cringed hard.

Erza also cringed when she realised that she had disturbed the Celestial wizard. From what she could see, Lucy's posture had gone as stiff as a tombstone as the hair on the back of her neck stood on end similar to the style of a cat raising its hackles.

"Lucy...?" She called out softly, clearly cautious.

Lucy turned away from Erza once again and she hung her head to glare softly at the grand piano, both eyes hardening a bit, she winced when she realised that squinting her black eye stung —she bit her lower lip and felt her heart quiver in her chest. If she had a voice right now, she was certain her throat would have emitted a feeble yet pathetic whimper.

She folded her arms across her chest and tried to pretend that Erza wasn't even there.

In other circumstances, she would be dead set against acting angry at Erza considering how she'd beat Natsu and Gray and get really aggressive towards them since she was one of the scariest people in the history of Earthland...in her (and possibly _everyone's) _opinion anyway...but she was upset and just wanted to be left alone right now.

Erza seemed to sense the tension and she reluctantly stepped forwards and took a seat next to the mute Celestial wizard. The red-haired wizard heaved a deep breath, her heart weighing heavily, and she closed her eyes and sighed.

She broke the silence that brewed between them.

"Lucy...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for lecturing you in front of everyone in the guild. I should have thought about how that would have made you feel, especially considering how you were told off by the master already, you couldn't defend yourself and we, no, _I _had failed to take your feelings into consideration," The facial muscles around her eyebrows pinched together to give off a stern edge to her face. "Do you understand how _worried _we all were? When you left with Natsu to retrieve your voice _alone _everyone was frightened that you could have gotten hurt...maybe worse!"

Lucy put her head down.

She didn't know she had worried everybody that much.

The stellar wizard hadn't meant to frighten her friends so much, she almost wanted to start crying her eyes out at the thought of her causing such fear in those she loved; to be honest, while she had been feeling quite vulnerable after the severe yelling and scolding she had been subjected to, she thought about how she would have reacted should she had been placed in such a position.

She probably would have been a bit upset too.

She couldn't find it in her heart to stay upset with her Guild mates...

Alas she also needed to get her point across because she was under the impression that nobody understood her point of view. She wore a frown of uncertainty as she kept avoiding eye contact and glanced far off to the left and tilted her head away so she wouldn't look at Erza's look of faint disapproval.

Erza saw this and she gently grabbed Lucy's chin and turned her head towards her so they could both make eye contact, she had to make an effort not to cringe at that hideously swollen black eye.

Lucy frowned heavily while she closed her eyes for a moment, sighed, reopened her eyes as he took out her notepad and then she proceeded to scribble a note down.

Then she ripped said note out of the book and handed it to the requip wizard.

Erza looked somewhat surprised at what she read.

"_Erza, it's my voice. Do you honestly think I want to sit out on the sidelines and watch everyone else get my voice while putting themselves in harms way?"_

"I understand that but-"

Lucy just scowled while she raised an eyebrow at her. She wouldn't dare say it loud, even if she could, but she doubted that very much. She clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth in what appeared to be somewhat scoff-like. She rolled her eyes but listened as Erza remained silent for a second as she tried to come up with a good explanation.

It didn't take long until she apparently found one.

"If we become mute, our magic power won't be compromised since we don't require our voices to properly activate our magic. Not to mention that we can afford it and won't be as vulnerable as you are without your magic power!"

Erza gestured to Lucy's black eye to make an emphasis on her point.

Lucy's glare hardened even more as she glanced down at the notebook sat upon her lap, opened it, found a new page and scribbled down a new note feverishly.

She wrote down her message so aggressively that steam may as well have been rising out from the tip of her pen, the paper could have easily got torn as well. As soon as she finished writing her note, she ripped the page out of the book and practically shoved it in Erza's face. She almost let a heated retort slip from her lips regarding the Celestial wizard's attitude but then she read the note.

For a moment, Erza looked like a goldfish with its gaping mouth wide open when she saw what was written.

_"If someone stole your voice, rendering you completely useless, would **YOU** just sit back and wait for everyone else to get it back for you?"_

The requip wizard paused.

She had to admit that she hadn't thought of that.

Erza started to think about what she would do if she was in Lucy's position and realised that she _wouldn't _sit back and wait with twiddling thumbs while she waited for other people to do the job for her...she would just barge in while demanding her voice back, using her sword, with a blazing explosion of glory happening all around her. She started to understand Lucy's actions a lot more at that moment of realisation. Maybe she should have tried harder to understand her instead of letting her worried, frantic and concerned thoughts speak for her.

This was when she realised that she'd messed up quite a bit.

She looked at Lucy, her mouth still agape as she tried to pick her own jaw off of the floor.

Lucy now looked more sad as she glanced down sadly at her own lap, her heart sagged in her chest and her stomach churned with upset. She couldn't shed any tears because her tears had dried up two days ago when she was with Natsu...when he had held her in his arms and comforted her...her heart felt full at that moment and she felt something she couldn't explain.

Her frown was so heavy it made her facial muscles hurt.

The stellar wizard absentmindedly lifted both hands and started to tap the keys of the piano and began to play a soft, gentle, melancholic melody that (like the previous song she played) glided through the air like a bird spreading its wings and gliding deftly through the skies. Lucy kept on pressing the keys and creating majestic music with the piano, she did naught else but concentrate on the music she played.

Erza pondered on her next move for a couple of lengthy moments.

What could she do to make amendments with Lucy?

She had obviously hurt her comrade's feelings when she chewed her out in front of _everyone _in the guild, leaving her defenceless and unable to stand up for herself when she was at her most vulnerable.

She had to do something to make it right...but what?

Erza sighed as she patted her friend's shoulder in a comforting and supportive gesture.

"Lucy...I'm sorry, I mean that."

Lucy didn't move for what felt like several long moments before she feebly glanced up at Erza, stopping her piano playing for a moment and anticipating more to be added to that sentence. Her frown was still large and caused her face to ache and she appeared as though she were about to burst into tears despite having none to burst into.

Erza resumed her apology, regardless.

"I'll have a talk with the others and I promise I'll keep a more open mind..."

"I...I still can't condone you disobeying the master's rules, Lucy...but I _can _try and help you as much as I can. Just promise that you won't go off on your own."

That was all Lucy needed to hear.

A huge smile that practically emanated with gratitude spread across her lips, and she lunged at her friend and proceeded to envelope her in a hug so tight that it could crush bones...maybe even surpass her _own _strength when she summoned it; she could crush enemies easily, she wrapped her arms around her and held on to her tightly. Lucy felt so grateful for the armor-clad requip wizard's pledge of assistance that she didn't even fully register that promise in her mind.

Lucy just nodded her head so fast that it looked more like a blur than anything else.

She was just so happy!

The Celestial mage squeezed the near daylights out of the scarlet-haired mage. She just hoped that, perhaps with a bit more support, everyone in Fairy tail could band together and reclaim her stolen voice.

That was her hope, anyway.

* * *

**A/N: ****Here is a new chapter, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I thought I'd make it a friendly moment between Erza and Lucy, and I made sure to add some musical stuff too. I know it had no Natsu in there but there is a reason for that.**

**But will Lucy keep to the promise she just made Erza?**

**We'll find out in future chapters!**

**Stay tuned!**

**-Chloemcg **


	14. Light up the sky

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Lucy hated the dark.

She always did.

She had found that whenever she had returned home after another hard day at Fairy tail, that a severe power outage had swept through Magnolia —it had made it so that any local fire wizards had been called to try and use some their magic power up any illumination to the city so nobody was operating under complete darkness.

Nobody knew why the city power had been cut but, fortunately, the mayor of Magnolia had _promised _that everything would be back to normal by the morning; Unfortunately, however, this meant that the town would be rendered left in the dark for a night!

Needless to say, Lucy wasn't happy about this at all.

She currently knelt on the floor with a thick bubble of blankets snuggled around her, cocooning her in softness and comfort as she curled up into a ball and tried her best not to notice the darkness that had surrounded her.

Her tear ducts were just about to overflow with liquid fear and her shallow breathing echoed through the room.

She had never really been fond of the dark, especially not when she was a little girl.

She had vivid memories of being trapped in darkness and, no matter how loud she cried, nobody would come to save her...they became so much worse after her mother died and her father began neglecting her in favour of his work and his fortune. Her young mind would cause her to dream up horrific hallucinations of monsters trying to take her away or lurking beneath her bed, waiting to snatch her.

She knew that she simply had to suck it up until the morning but...

Being left already vulnerable by having lost her voice had _also_ left her feeling pretty frightened and upset by everything else.

Lucy wrapped her blanket tighter around herself, trying to stay calm and collected.

That was when a loud sound burst from nowhere and she wound up dropping her Celestial spirit keys to the floor with an audible "clunk" of a sound. Her heart continuously pounded in her chest as she tried to remain calm but, instead, panicked and scrambled to try and collect her frightened and fragmented thoughts.

She would have screamed but...

"LUCY! ARE YOU OKAY!?"

Lucy froze.

She knew that voice.

A burst of light, presumably from one of her keys, flashed in the room and Loke (otherwise known as Leo) had proofed into the room instantaneously with a panicked look on his face as he stood in front of her and grabbed on to her. He wasn't going to let anyone try and harm the bearer of his key.

He was scowling so hard that even through the thick black lenses of his sunglasses, his gaze was piercing to the soul.

He refused to lose another key-holder.

He couldn't let it happen again!

Lucy sighed with relief, she was beyond grateful that he was here.

"Sorry I'm late." He said, smirking seductively at her. "When I sensed the fear in your beautiful heart and I decided to step in."

Lucy wanted to shriek at at the lion-like man, although she couldn't help but blush a little upon catching that hint of flirtation in his explanation and a visible droplet of sweat dribbled down the side of her face.

_Why didn't you show up earlier!?_

She cried internally.

Loke noticed the silence and decided to make a joke, even though the concerned furrowing of his brows was unmistakable.

"Hey, what's up? Cat gotcha tongue?"

Lucy just clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and rolled her eyes up towards the ceiling. Then she brought two shaky, trembly hands up and pointed to her mouth before straightening them both out and crossing them together to make an X shape, hanging and then shaking her head lowly whilst she did her best to keep eye contact with the Celestial spirit.

The amusement in Loke's face dropped like a flick of a wrist and he frowned seriously yet surprisedly.

"Are you...trying to tell me that ya can't speak?"

Lucy nodded ashamedly.

Loke got serious.

"Mind telling me from the beginning?"

Lucy just stared blankly at him. How was she supposed to tell him from the beginning when she _couldn't _speak? Then she recalled that she had her notebook tucked into her pocket and had wasted no time in tearing the book right out of the left pocket of her jammie bottoms. She flipped it open, gripped the pen tightly in her hand and written her full explanation feverishly; she had no clue as to how she could have written it _in the dark _but she just was desperate to convey her message to her Celestial spirit friend.

He didn't have much time there before he had to go.

It took a minute or so for the message to be finished before she showed it to him, as he was sort of cat-like he could see in the dark.

The ginger-haired spirit gaped when he finished reading the note and took a few lengthy moments to collect his thoughts after he had been updated on the more current events. It seemed to click now why the holder of his (and the other spirits') key had been silent...literally.

A few moments passed until a beeping sound broke the silence.

Loke sighed when he heard it.

"Sorry, Lucy. I'm gonna have to get back."

He smiled gently.

"But I'll let the others know, they'll be relieved that you aren't ignoring 'em."

Lucy nodded but stared at him silently, her deep brown eyes holding a promise.

A promise to get her voice back.

A promise that she would be able to contact both Loke and the rest of her Celestial spirit friends soon.

In a beam of light, Loke vanished in an instant. Lucy thought for a second; she knew that Loke would probably be in big trouble from the Celestial spirit king since, from what she understood, he had to show up when she was in _serious_ danger and that was it —no other times.

But that didn't matter.

Her friends were alright...she felt so relieved about this.

Then relief, however, was shattered in an instant.

She heard a loud "click" that was followed by a "slam" and then a "thud".

Lucy's heart jumped from her chest and high into her throat as she shot to her feet in an instant, the blanket falling to the floor, and wildly glanced around her to try and get an idea where in the world that noise was and what it was.

She shuddered as she wandered aimlessly through her apartment.

She was just surrounded by pitch black darkness, she had to put her hand right up against the wall and use it to grope about in order to get a semblance of an idea as to where she was in her room.

"...Lucy?"

She could feel her eyes shut as she shrieked in surprise but, as expected by now, no sound came out. Without really thinking, she grabbed the nearest item (she wasn't entirely sure what she grabbed but she could tell that it was thin and was of moderate weight) and lobbed it at the direction of where the voice had come from.

A loud and rather metallic "thud" of a sound reverberated through the room.

Clearly the object had clearly hit its destined target.

"Ow!" The voice cried.

"Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! It's me...!"

Lucy's eyes popped wide open and her mouth fell open.

All of that fear instantly sizzled out and she felt relief pour over her like rain...but she also felt angrily frustrated.

It was Natsu!

Lucy felt even more frustration begin to build up inside her, a bunch of thoughts had assaulted her mind at once as she started to clench her fists and felt her face twist and contort with silent fury. She knew that Natsu was as dim as a lightbulb but she didn't think his obliviousness ran so deep! Part of her really wanted to lunge and then strangle him with the tails of his scaly scarf.

Did he _really _not understand her feelings!?

Couldn't he just try and get through that thick mind of his and figure it out?

WHY DID HE KEEP BREAKING INTO HER HOUSE!?

"Lucy...?" Was all he could say.

Her face twisted and contorted with fury and rage.

But Lucy went completely still when she felt Natsu's strong and muscular arms enfold her.

She could hear that Natsu wanted to ask her something as he appeared to fumble for his words for a few seconds until he amplified his own speaking volume. He hung his head, sighing, launched himself into a standing-up-position and lowered his arm so he could extend an open hand out to the blonde Celestial wizard.

"C'mon, Luce, lemme take ya out." Said Natsu suddenly.

Lucy looked bewildered.

What?

He was going to take her out?

But to where?

Natsu saw her look of utter shock and elaborated.

"I wanna do something for you, dummy."

Lucy blinked with astonishment as she tried to pick her jaw off of the floor. Natsu...wanted to take her out? But weren't they grounded? She hadn't expected any of this; first Natsu scares her by _breaking _into _her_ house, _again_, and _now _asks (or suggestively demands) her out of the house in the middle of the night? She almost couldn't believe her ears, this pink-haired hot-head...he never behaved like this.

She was confused and filled with this strange sense of joyful disbelief.

Was this really happening?

"One condition, though."

Lucy was sure that she could hear the sound of a record scratching in her head when she heard that and she cocked her head to one side with her brown eyes as wide as saucers. She stared at Natsu and watched as a thin smirk swept across the dragon slayer's lips and he flashed his fangs at her.

He wagged his finger at her teasingly, winking playfully at her.

"You gotta dress up nice."

Lucy spared a moment to glance down at her pale purple and lazily-thrown on pyjamas and then back up at him. She frowned and cocked her eyebrows at him, staring at him with a look that basically said 'seriously?'

* * *

Natsu led Lucy through the streets, holding hands with his fingers intertwined and laced together with hers.

She dressed herself in a golden velvet gown that sparkled in the night and there was glitter adoring the dress and she had even tied her hair in a bun as she; it made her look absolutely stunning as she gently treaded through the street.

Lucy couldn't help but glance down at their hands and she blushed beet red when she noticed that both of their hands fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; it was as if their hands had always been meant to hold one another. She felt her heart pound even harder at the fact. The street lamps were dimly-lit and very slightly illuminated the streets (somehow those were the only things working) with the sounds of the flowing water of the nearby seine faintly burbling against the nighttime atmosphere.

The two wizards meandered down the road, pretty much walking in near-pitch black darkness.

The two of them ventured (mostly in silence) through the streets until they finally arrived at the park; it was quiet and empty just like the rest of town but the fact that it was just the two of them there was a welcome thing. There was little light lighting the park and it created a gentle ambience as Natsu directed Lucy towards the front of the base of the giant tree centred in the middle of the park.

Then the two sat down on the yellow and red chequed blanket that had been spread on the ground, there was a basket with a small banquet laid out and a candle in the middle of the meal. It took a flick of Natsu's wrist to light the candle.

The two sat on opposite sides of each other.

The stellar wizard of Fairy tail shuddered a bit from the cold and Natsu noticed this and frowned with concern so he walked over to her, he unfurled the scarf from around his own neck and wrapped it around hers; the Dragon slayer didn't want his friend to get cold or anything, he wanted to make her feel special after everything she went through.

He couldn't risk her catching a cold.

"There. Anything else I can do for you?" He asked softly, his soft onyx gaze piercing straight into Lucy's soul.

Without saying anything more, he brought both hands together and, suddenly, the whole area was alit with this bright orange flame. The pinkette kept the palms of his hands close together as he cupped the smallest but well-controlled flame in them in an attempt to light up the area surrounding them.

Lucy almost flinched but calmed when she saw the small flame in Natsu's hands.

A gentle and sincere smile spread across his lips as he started to speak.

"See? Nothin' to be scared of. I can be your light...if ya lemme."

Lucy's face started to feel severely hot but she was unsure whether or not it was because of the fire or if it was due to the fact that she knew that she was blushing as bright as said fire. Her heart was _pounding_ and she could hardly breathe without her chest feeling like it could explode any second, her body shook and trembled as if she had been trapped in a freezer for several hours.

Her eyes started to tear up.

He had done all of this for her. He took the time to set this romantic setting up, he chose the place, he cooked the food (or bought it, she didn't know really but she still found it sweet), he poured his heart out to her and he came to her when she needed him...even if she couldn't tell him that properly right now.

Natsu immediately felt a bolt of panic strike him the second he saw a single tear make itself known on her face. He jolted back and shrieked with bucketloads of sweat dribbled down his face in heaps, his fangs gnashed as he let his lips fly.

"AH, LUCY! Don't cry! Please! I can't stand to see you cry! Please!"

Lucy blinked a few times a she rubbed at her eyes with her forearm, but there was a hint of a smile on her face as she tried to reassure him that she was ok. She sniffled as she blinked her eyes at her friend, her eyeballs stung a bit as she tried to mop her tears away.

Natsu watched with concern and uncertainty.

What should he do?

Lucy gave him an open-handed gesture to say "I'm okay" and he backed off.

Natsu was silent as he got to his feet and then, out of nowhere, he thrust his arm upwards, clenching his hand into a tight fist, and made it so it burst into a bright ball of fire. His fist burned brightly and crackled and sizzled in the night and then he shot the blazing ball high into the sky.

Lucy's eyes were wide.

What was he doing now?

Before Lucy could think another though, the ball vanished into the clouds of night...then little orange dots started to fluttered to the ground. She watched in awe and wonderment as little bright orange embers drifted to the ground like falling specks of snow. Her heart was bursting with joy, true joy, that she hadn't felt ever since she had gotten her voice pilfered from her.

Her mouth fell open as she smiled and her gaze drifted around to try and catch a glimpse of each and every falling ember.

They were like little orange fireflies...

Natsu set himself back down on the blanket and he started to dig into his meal, shoving the spaghetti into his mouth greedily.

Lucy just stared at him in bewilderment, both at his eating habits and his display.

She had to admit that this was the most romantic thing he'd ever done for her.

Natsu paused mid-eat when he caught her staring at him and then he closed his eyes as he sighed deeply. He seemed to be thinking deeply about something and, before Lucy could even react or anything else, he grabbed the back of her head gently before he leaned towards her and rubbed her forehead against his own.

Lucy gasped in shock for a moment but she took in his comfort.

She was about to pull away instinctively until she felt how warm he was and let her eyes close as she took in his comfort. She couldn't believe that this was even happening right now, she hadn't even expected something like this to happen. Normally she would have smacked the pinkette but her current vulnerability and disbelief at this moment in time had caused her not to.

Was Natsu's body heat always this warm...?

She caught a whiff of smoke, Natsu's scent she'd imagine, but still...it felt oddly comforting.

Her heart had exploded right then and there as a tiny smile curled at her lips.

This reminded Lucy of when a version of herself from the future had arrived in the present to warn everyone about an impending danger and Natsu had done this as a gesture to thank the future version of the Celestial wizard for risking her life for everyone and for their own futures.

Natsu started to whisper gingerly to her.

"No matter what, voice or no voice, you will always be the Lucy we know and love...never forget that."

Lucy felt more tears glisten in her eyes and her lips trembled into a quivered into a huge smile as she nodded; with Natsu around she would _never _forget how loved she is...by everyone in Fairy tail and, when she got her voice back, she swore that she would let him and everyone else know how much she appreciates their care.

And she swore that she'd tell Natsu all the feelings that she felt surge throughout her heart.

That was a promise...

* * *

**A/N: Here is a new chapter, everyone!**

**And just in time for Valentines day!**

**Not only did Loke show up and Lucy finally got to explain the situation but she also got to go on an "outing" with none other than a certain pinkette dragon slayer. Is anyone excited about the newest chapter that I managed to get out?**

**I hope you enjoyed it.**

**Don't forget to review, guys!**

**-Chloemcg **


	15. Running away

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Lucy lay in her bed.

After a (quite honestly) romantic night out, both Natsu and herself had grown exhausted and she had invited him to spend the night. Happy was already there by the time they had returned to the house and Natsu was more than happy to curl himself around his kitten and to keep him company in his sleep on the sofa while Lucy trudged to bed.

No matter how hard she tried, though, sleep never came.

She could only keep gazing aimlessly at the ceiling above her and she had a billion thoughts filling her brain at once, it made her screw her eyes shut.

Her head felt like it was about to burst!

She knew that she had to do something, something was calling her name, could it be her voice?

She felt like she was stuck in her own head.

She had this overpowering sensation to go and get her voice herself, even though she had swore she wouldn't. She had this terrible feeling that she was running out of time. She knew that she had to go but...everyone would get so worried...and angry at her again...could she forgive herself for putting her friends —the people she had considered **_family_**— through something like that? Again?

She had an internal war about it and everything!

_"I have to do it..."_

_"But I promised Erza I wouldn't...she'd rip my head off if I were to do this."_

_"I'd make everyone so sad, and mad at me..."_

_"Gramps would be disappointed in me..."_

_"Worst of all Natsu would be..."_

The stellar wizard of Fairy tail cried on the inside.

She missed communicating with her friends, her Celestial spirits, more then she could put into words.

She missed talking to the twins, Gem and Mini. She missed Cancer helping her style her hair. She missed practicing archery with Sagittarius. She (sort of) missed Virgo's constant insistence on being punished, even if it was incredibly irritating especially since she'd _never _do it. She missed watching little Plue dance around with his adorability. She missed sparring with Taurus (not him flirting with her). She missed spending time and sparring with Loke (although, again, she didn't miss the flirting). She _almost _missed Aquarius' verbal rampaging. She missed conversing with Capricorn as well as the chamomile tea he would make for her when she was upset. She missed Aries and talking with her.

She also missed Horologium, Pyxis, Crux and Lyra...

All of her spirits she missed.

She missed them so much...

Lucy felt her eyes harden.

She couldn't let anyone take the burden for her anymore...

The Celestial wizard of Fairy tail slunk out of bed, throwing the blankets off herself.

Once on her feet she started to gather what she needed.

She walked over to her wardrobe, making sure to quietly open one of the doors to make as little noise as possible, grabbed one of the jackets that hung from the one of the multitude of clothes hangers that also had various clothing items hanging from them. She threw on the brown leather jacket she chosen and then grabbed a satchel from deeper within the wardrobe and hung it over her shoulder.

With that done, she snuck into the sitting room and found a rather adorable sight.

Natsu and Happy were passed out asleep on the sofa.

Happy was curled on top of a small pillow but the blanket that had previously been wrapped around him had obviously become untucked and had fallen to the ground. The small blue feline shuddered and shivered from the cold and he let out a tiny plaintive groan as he seemed to sense the cold even in his slumbering state.

His small whiskers twitched.

Lucy stopped and stared pitifully at the sight of her sleeping comrades.

She bent down and picked up the small blanket off the floor, gently placed it over and then tucked it around both the snoozing blue feline and the pink-haired dragon slayer.

Natsu gave a soft moan as he snorted sleepily, Lucy stared sadly down at him as he slept like the dead. He appeared to be sleeping peacefully, his breathing was normal and he had a surprisingly calm and peaceful look on his face.

Lucy knelt down in front of the two sleeping lumps on the sofa and stared at them with a pitiful look on her face.

Her heart ached.

_"Oh, Natsu...I'm so sorry. I know you try your hardest and, while you can be a bit of a hot head, as well as a stomach on legs, you care so much for your friends...and for me...I'm sorry I never told you how I felt. I'm sorry you had to get hurt because of me. I'm sorry of me being so selfish and troublesome ever since I lost my voice."_

She leaned forwards, using a gentle hand to gently sweep aside some of Natsu's messy pink bangs away from his forehead, and pressed her lips against the skin of his head. She had always wanted to do this...but she was very upset that he wouldn't be awake to receive it.

Was this plan severely foolish?

Yes.

Was she aware of this?

Absolutely.

But she couldn't let herself be a burden anymore, no matter what.

Her eyes setting on the desk where she written her letters, Lucy strode over to it and set herself down on the small wooden stool and got the necessities to scribe her current plans and apologies. She put a piece of paper down on the desk, grabbed a pencil in her hand, and started to scribble a message down on the piece of parchment. Her eyes were still watering as tears dripped down her face and landed on the paper whilst he written all her thoughts down.

The mage's heart was thudding and shuddering in her chest as she felt her rib cage shake.

'_Natsu & Happy._

_I need to start this by saying that I am so sorry. I'm so sorry that I've been nothing but trouble ever since I lost my voice, but I have to do this. I have to get my voice back and, I know I promised that I'd stick by you and how I needed you but the truth is that I'm scared._

_I've been scared ever since this whole mess began. I have had a sneaking suspicion that my voice, even being so far away, has been fading away. I've been reading and I have learned that a sound fades away the longer the sound has been separated from said source._

_I need to find my voice and get it back._

_The thing is, though, is that, with me being as powerless as I am now, I might not even be coming back._

_The fact is, guys, is that this could very well kill me._

_I need you guys to know that you have been the best thing to happen to me —I wouldn't have even been in Fairy tail if it weren't for you! You have supported me through good times and bad and I couldn't be more thankful that I met you; even though sometimes your stupid antics and tendency to rush into things without things annoy me to no end, Natsu, Happy, I don't tell you this enough but I love you._

_I love you so much._

_Please don't come looking for me.  
_

_P.S: Tell Erza, Gramps, the rest of the guild and my landlady that I'm sorry._

_Love Lucy.'_

Lucy's eyes filled with tears as she had to bite her lower lip to fight back the sobs that were trying desperately to wrack her body.

This was so difficult.

Why...?

She folded the letter up, stood up, left the piece of parchment on the made-up quilt of her bed, and started to make her way out of the apartment with her bag slung over her shoulder as she made her departure with her face full of sadness and guilt for what she was about to do. Regardless, she didn't show any signs of turning back as she strode silently down the stairs.

It didn't take her long before she made her way out the door front door.

She made sure to be quiet as she couldn't risk waking Natsu and Happy.

Then her plan would be foiled.

The only thing holding her back now was her emotional attachments as she glanced down at her hand, at the pink Fairy tail emblem stamped on the back of said hand, tears welling up in her eyes and her lip starting to quiver like crazy as she stared longingly at it for a few extra moments.

After taking a sec to recollect herself, Lucy headed out the door and greeted the world outside.

It was really dark and shockingly quiet, the streets were now coated with a thick layer of leftover frost and ice and this made them a bit of a hazard to walk on. Frost stubbornly clung to the atmosphere and an early-morning cool blew.

Lucy took in the cool air.

She pursed her lips.

She took a few moments to gather herself until she hardened her face.

It was time to go.

Slinging her satchel over her shoulder once more, she started off down the road and meandered over to try and locate the "Poacher of sound" and her voice along with it. But she also had doubts that she could do this alone...

She shook her head.

She couldn't turn back now, it was too late for that.

* * *

**Chloemcg: Here is another new chapter for you guys, I hope you enjoyed it.**

**It seems like Lucy is about to do something reckless again but is trying to get her voice back.**

**Can she do it or will Natsu get to her in time?**

**Don't forget to fave and review.**

**-Chloemcg **


	16. Rallying the guild

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

_**KA-BOOOOOOM!**_

The clouds were heavy with rain, the breeze was steadily growing, the air was growing colder.

Magnolia (and pretty much _all _of Earthland) had a dank, dark, depressing atmosphere that was so heavy that gravity itself could have been crushed thin with ease as an intense flash of light snapped through the skies, thunder crashed in a loud enough cacophony to shake the earth and, with the storm threatening to start raging outside was lurking, there was also this sort of _strange_ sense of impending danger brewing in the air.

The rain was just beginning to fall down by now.

Fairy tail was bursting with activity even though everyone was all-too aware of the storm quite literally looming overhead.

The faint rumble of thunder causing an intense edge to the current atmosphere. When there was a thunderstorm, everyone would work to try and ignore it —except for Lauxus, he enjoyed thunderstorms (for obvious reasons) and would go out with the thunder legion to take a leisurely stroll out. Everyone bustled about through the guildhall, going about their business to prepare for the thunderstorm outside and some even coming back from their respective missions early since the storm was interfering with the woodlands and other routes needed to go anywhere.

Yes, the storm was _severe._

Makarov peered out through the window, watching as the raindrops started to pelt the glass and drip down whilst leaving wet little trails in their wake as the amount of raindrops started to multiply at a rapid speed.

He couldn't explain why but he felt...this ominous feeling stir in the pit of his gut.

The elderly guildmaster sat perched in the seat of his wheelchair, an intense expression on his wrinkling face.

He couldn't explain why he felt this sensation but he had this instinct that told him that something else, besides the weather, was wrong —and one of his children was at the very centre of it. He had felt this stirring in his soul time and time when one of his beloved children were in danger of any shape or form but he didn't wish to follow it because that would prove that one of his charges had done something inevitably stupid and reckless or maybe even both!

"Hmmm..." He hummed, deep in thought.

He almost jumped out of his wheelchair when the sound of rushing feet pounded in his ears followed by the doors slamming open.

Gramps whirled around and saw none other than Natsu, followed by Happy, and he looked paler than he had ever seen him before. His eyes widened and he felt alarm bells go off in his head; what was going on? What was this? Things could have been very bad if Natsu was with Happy and where was Lucy? Why wasn't she anywhere with him?

Natsu had seemed to burst into the guildhall with his skin as white as toothpaste.

The dragon slayer started to yell.

"EVERYONE, HELP! SHES G-G-GONE! VANISHED! GOTTA HELP...!"

He sounded frantic and barely able to get his words together to form an intelligible sentence.

It seemed that nobody could understand or comprehend what he was trying to say.

Natsu's body language was completely irrational as he stomped about with his head snapping in every which way and every direction that the human neck would allow. His scarf tails fluttered and whirled about with his head lashing everywhere. His chest was heaving in and out, indicating that his breathing was erratic and panicky like his demeanour, his footsteps were heavy and lumbering, his sandals clomping down on the wooden floorboards.

Raindrops dripped from his form, his spiky pink hair was flattened and more downy due to the weight of the rainwater, he was soaking wet. His entire posture was tense and every possible vein that could possibly show up on his body was plainly visible.

Erza stormed up to him with her face a cocktail of mixed emotions such as stunned concern, worry and her regular stern authoritarian tone that she carried with her.

"Natsu! What's the matter!?" Erza asked.

She then glanced up at Happy whom had an empty, deflated air about him.

Natsu was in a state of panic, his body was trembling and he was breathing erratically. He made a dash towards his rival and quickly grabbed him by the collar of the navy blue silk coat he wore over his otherwise completely bare chest.

Gray scowled angrily. "Hey! Flame for brains! You got hearing problems or something?! She asked you a question!"

"Salamander! What's got your scarf in a knot?!" Gajeel, who had been seated next to Gray, Levy and Cana, exclaimed in shock and annoyance upon noticing how the pink-haired Dragon slayer came up to him with crazed worry in his eyes.

Before Gray could even blink, Natsu raised a fiery first upwards and held it in front of the ice mage's face. His eyes had become jade reptilian slits and he grit his fangs aggressively.

"I CAN HEAR JUST FINE, DUMB CHUNK OF ICE!"

They started to get into their usual routine of attacking each other, however, Natsu seemed far more aggressive then normal as he appeared to have a lot of pent up anger and fright that was _very _unnatural for him and concerned all who was in the guild; of course Natsu and Gray were _always _eager for a fight but _never _did Natsu ever strike out like this unless there was something seriously wrong.

Natsu still carried a look of underlying fear on his face, even as he began to prepare to throw fiery punches.

Before their quarrelling could break out into a full-out brawl, however, they were stopped by Erza who silenced them both by standing in between them before grabbing hold of the front of Gray's coat with one hand and grabbing hold of the front of Natsu's scarf in the other.

"Hey!" Natsu and Gray cried out in unison, their eyes glaring...only for those glares to falter immediately into looks of terror after seeing the severity in Erza's own eyes.

Gramps, in the meantime, immediately became aware of the severe unease in the guildhall.

His large, bushy white eyebrows furrowed and then knitted themselves together to paint a look of unease and concern. He wheeled himself down the large ramp that led to the centre of the hall and approached the fire, ice and requip mages and see what he could do to calm the pink-haired dragon slayer and see what was the matter; he knew something was up because Lucy wasn't with him and that filled him with concern.

Gray was released from Erza's grip.

Natsu was still panting and acting erratically; even Erza was at a loss of what to do since she didn't know whether or not forceful intervention would work and she didn't quite _do "_gentle".

She wasn't a gentle person, really.

The master, however, wheeled up to the frenetic Dragon slayer and proceeded to talk him down.

"Natsu. Listen to me," he said patiently. "You need to breathe and tell us all what had happened. Where's Lucy?"

Gramps reached up and patted Natsu's shoulder (the dragon slayer had to bend down a bit so he could achieve this feat) and the pink-haired fire wizard seemed to calm down a bit after hearing the old man's words of reassurance.

Happy also brightened up a tad after he began patting Natsu's side with a small smile spreading across his little cat face.

Natsu breathed through his nostrils, a tad less squirrelled than before, and he proceeded to reach down so Happy could pass the letter he had been clutching this whole time that was the source of his distress. After having the note in his possession, Natsu straightened himself up and shakily started to read the letter that Lucy had left behind the night before.

Everybody all stared at the Dragon slayer as he explained what had happened and even shown the letter that Lucy had left behind when she left, thankfully, to Porlyusica who had came to visit to check on Lucy herself and see Gajeel about a sprained arm. He didn't look away as he read the note aloud as he didn't want to watch the happiness leave everyone's faces.

It took an agonising minute until he finished reading.

"... Please don't come looking for me. P.S: Tell Erza, Gramps, the rest of the guild and my landlady that I'm sorry. Love Lucy..."

Silence.

As if struck by the very lightning that was striking the clouds outside, the atmosphere of the entire guild transformed in an instant as everyone in the entire guild had stared in shocked silence, each and every single one of their expressions ones of pure horror as well as dread as they all stared at Natsu in disbelief.

A very tense atmosphere filled the entire guildhall.

There was a great verity of reactions:

Levy, terrified for her best friend, began to weep hopelessly.

Gajeel was clearly stunned but was also quick to comfort the short, blue-haired solid script mage...even though he was a bit injured and bandaged up after enduring a battle with ten monsters at once during a mission with his companion, Patherlily.

Juvia was standing as still as a statue (with the exception of her hands) as she gasped and she clasped both hands over her mouth, her eyes starting to water. Her breathing halted and she trembled and shuddered and her knees quaked.

Mira went severely pale, whatever cup she was gripping at the time slipped from her hand and tumbled to the floor and smashed into teeny bits. Lisanna, who was seated at the bar her sister worked at, hastened to her side to steady her elder sister. Elfman had clearly become just as uneasy as everybody else as he rushed to be with his sisters.

Gramps had the most mortified (yet rather stoic) expression ever worn by a human being.

After a couple of moments, the old man face-palmed.

"Natsu...YOU breaking the rules I wouldn't shock me...but Lucy? _Lucy? _This just isn't right..." He muttered.

Natsu didn't even bother casting a withering scowl over to the guildmaster at the comment.

He was a bit more preoccupied with Lucy's well-being...and that confession in her letter:

"Even though sometimes your stupid antics and tendency to rush into things without things annoy me to no end, Natsu, Happy, I don't tell you this enough but I love you. I love you so much."

Natsu dropped right down to the floor and collapsed to his knees with both of his kneecaps taking the full brunt of the impact. His face fell forwards, hanging down low. Tears welled up in his eyeballs and dripped to the wooden floors below.

A choked sob slipped from his throat.

Tears flowed down his cheeks, those tears dripping to the ground.

Erza towered over Natsu.

Normally the fire Dragon slayer would have buckled under such an intense look on her face but he just stared up at her emptily however, a measure of fear did dart through his onyx eyes when she pulled as hard as she could on the fold of scarf that she had seized into her grip, pulling Natsu back up and on to his feet.

The scarlet red warrioress and everyone else continued to be _dead_ silent as they tried to process this news.

Natsu sniffled as he tried to stop crying so much, hoping to get a reign on his emotions.

"Lemme see that!" Before he could even register what was happening, the pinkette felt it as the letter was snatched out of his grip.

The fire wizard looked very annoyed as he begrudgingly allowed Porlyusica to check the letter over and she didn't seem to be very patient around him; especially when examining this letter.

"Well...?" Makarov asked as he folded his arms, his face wrinkled in anticipation.

The medicinal advisor grumbled an inaudible curse beneath her breath and shook her head non-sympathetically, she tugged at her silk examination gloves as she finally turned away from Natsu and drifted over to the small group with this slight sternness glinting in her eyes.

"I'm afraid that Lucy has put herself in real peril..." She said grimly.

Everyone (except for Makarov) leaned forwards with curiously wide eyes to get some more information on this situation. Porlyusica tutted and looked at the group of Fairy tail wizards in her presence and clarified her previous statement in that same grim note in her voice.

"I am afraid that, in her letter, the young lady isn't wrong. If a certain amount of time goes by then the sound fades into obscurity. The time limit for the voice fading quickens the further the host is from the sound missing, in this case, her voice."

"Really?" Wendy gasped, tilting her head sideways in confusion, grabbing on to Carla whom patted the younger Sky Dragon slayer's head comfortingly.

Porlyusica massaged her temple irritably and responded to the young Sky dragon slayer's question-phrased repeat of what she had said. "Indeed, child. This is a very ancient sort of lost magic. Lots of things are unknown about it...but that girl is a stubborn fool to have pulled off this stunt, this could very well get her killed."

"WHY DIDN'T YA TELL US ALL THAT BEFORE!?" Natsu roared, only _just _being pulled back by the fabric of his scarf.

Porlyusica snapped right back, "ITS A RARE MAGIC, DIDN'T YOUR THICK SKULL PICK THAT PART UP!? I HAD NO IDEA UNTIL I READ ABOUT IT THE OTHER DAY!"

"That's enough!"

Natsu stopped trying to lunge at the medic like a wild animal and just stood there, quietly simmering so much that his very scalp with emitting smoke. His shoulders rose and fell with every breath he took as he clenched his fist tightly and ground his fangs so hard that they could have very well shattered. His eyes scowled as he stared at his closed fist, but there was this measure of alarm and panic clearly etched on to the fire wizard's face.

Alas Natsu's panicked expression didn't go unnoticed.

Makarov spoke up sharply.

"Natsu, please calm down! We have to be careful here if we want to get her back. And we _will_ get her back."

Natsu slumped down as he took the note back from the elderly woman and just stared at the writing with a mostly-blank expression on his face; he held the note as if it were the most precious thing in the whole entire world. His brows knitted together and his mouth quivered with upset, his eyes still moist and his cheeks red from the downpour of tears he had wept.

He shook his head.

"Gotta get a hold of myself..." He murmured to himself.

He sucked in a deep yet trembly breath while everyone else either tried to comprehend everything or were trying to comfort each other (maybe even both).

Gray grabbed Natsu's shoulder, jerking him up so he could balance on his feet.

"C'mon, Natsu. Get a grip. We'll get her back _and _her voice." The ice mage said.

He tried to smile reassuringly —Natsu's only response, though, was to stand up from his seat in order to sharply turn to face the dark-haired young man. Fires of fury ignited in his obsidian eyes and he proceeded to ram a flaming fist right into the right side of ice mage's face, knocking him down to the ground hard.

After Gray was down, Natsu then muttered huffily, "That was for callin' me 'Flame for brains' you shirtless icicle."

Makarov sighed as he pinched.

"You buncha crazy kids, I'm too old for this..."

He turned to address the rest of the folks in his guild.

The folks who he had raised since they were children, a bunch of children who were orphaned and lonely and he'd brought them into his guild where they all grew into magnificent wizards, his old eyes grew misty and his own lips quaked at the thought of it.

He started to speak.

"Everyone...we need to get our Lucy back, we have to not only rescue her but rescue and retrieve her voice as well. As the master of this guild, it was my sworn duty to take care of and _listen _to those in my care. However I neglected to listen when one of them needed me and I need to make things right with her. We will all go and we will right the wrongs we have made and help the girl who had helped us so many times! I say we find that Poacher of sound, find Lucy, find out where he's kept her voice and show him what Fairy tail is truly made of!"

"I guessssss the old sayingssss true!" Cana slurred, clearly drunk, while leaning heavily over a large barrel which she hugged closely to herself that contained an unknown alcoholic substance. "I guesssss y'_can _teach an old dog new trickssss!"

Everyone rolled their eyes in Cana's direction.

Lisanna spoke up as she raised a finger.

"How do we go about finding her?"

Natsu pointed to his own nose and smirked at Wendy and Gajeel, they all eyed one another.

Everyone knew that this meant that they were each referring to their strong sense of smell

They raised their hands up high into the air, pointing up to the sky, crying out in determination in a hope to be , Natsu started to shift uneasily as he decided to inquire about something now that Gramps' had seen the error of his ways from before.

The fire dragon slayer asked, a smirk pulling at his lips that exposed his glinting fangs.

"...Does this mean that we get ungrounded then?"

Gramps just scowled dryly at him.

"Absolutely not."

* * *

**A/N: The guild has gotten together and are about to go and rescue Lucy, we will see where they go. Will they be able to rescue her? I have a lot of things in store for everyone —and I sincerely hope that the ****lot of you enjoys what I have in store. **

**Can Natsu and the rest of Fairy tail help Lucy and restore her voice?**

**Stay tuned and find out.**

**-Chloemcg **


	17. Facing the storm

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

_Stomp._

_Stomp._

_Stomp._

_Stomp._

Lucy plodded along, her steps heavy and her spine twinging with pain.

She hadn't stopped walking ever since she left for the captor of her voices abode in the early hours of the morning. Her feet ached, her eyes felt heavy from fatigue and exhaustion from waking up early, her posture and shoulders slunk into a heavy slouch, both of her arms swung from side-to-side as she walked with them feeling like lead instead of her actual arms —in fact, the Celestial mage thought that she might as well as had noodles for arms at this point.

She felt as though she had been walking for an eternity.

Her feet were aching beyond imagination by now and her legs ached in protest with each and every single step she took and she knew that she _had _to find out soon because she couldn't risk it if Natsu, Happy, Erza, the master, Levy and the rest came after her and put themselves in danger because of her.

However, after she left her home and meandered off into the night, a realisation hit her full force:

How on Earthland was she going to go about looking for this guy?

The Celestial wizard had no clue as to what she was playing at when she left on this foolish mission. She swallowed nervously in an effort to loosen her tight throat but held herself steady. Her heart was heavy and her gaze hardened considerably as she knew that it was far too late to turn back now; she had made her bed and now she had to lie in it.

The trees gently swayed in the breeze, sounding like wooden wind chimes as the branches were being cradled by the wind that blew in the peacefully calm atmosphere of the edge of the forest. There was a damp thinly-veiled fog that created a dampness due to the storm oncoming storm and it made her shudder.

The air felt damp and the forest grew steadily darker as the dawn drew on to morning.

This woodland was infamous for its thickly grown rare plants and the hostile creatures that lurked within, it was known for all the terrible monsters and the darkness that plagued it; a darkness that one could hardly see through even in the daytime.

There was danger peeking around every corner and it was so mysterious.

The blonde mage shrunk into herself as she warily glanced all around her, she couldn't recall the last time that she had felt so small and insignificant nor could she remember the very last time she was in such a frightening place but something inside of her had a feeling that she was most certainly going the right way.

She kept right on walking and tried to ignore the pain in her legs and feet until she suddenly became aware of an eerie presence, it was a strong presence and it did nothing to calm her nerves as she hugged her arms both as a means of self-reassurance and to keep herself warm in spite of the chill trying to engulf her.

Lucy decided to investigate her surroundings quickly.

She looked to her left.

Nobody there.

She looked to her right.

Still nothing.

She felt as though she was a lone bunny who was being stalked by a predator, her heartbeat was quickening and her stomach churned with great unease. Her lower lip quivered and her eyes (even her still-healing black eye) glistened with moisture of fright. She tried not to give away how frightened she was but she stuffed it deep down within.

After all, Fairy tail never gave up the fight...right?

This was when a big, tall shadow stretched along the ground in front of her.

What was this?

The blonde mage swallowed hard.

She spun around with wide and terrified eyes, her heart stopping in her chest. Her knees shook as they caved in. Her arms broke out in goosebumps, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck raised like a cats hackles, her mouth dropped open and she could swear that a feeling of dread looked over her. A billion thoughts burst into her mind as a petrified yet star struck expression crossed upon her face.

She had a gut instinct tell her that there was someone standing right behind her...!

She whirled around with eyes filled with alarm.

The person was cloaked in the shadows, their identity mostly concealed thanks to the dark corridors.

Nevertheless, the Celestial mage knew exactly who it was and she felt her blood run cold in her veins as she stiffened as hard as a tombstone with every last semblance of colour draining from her face. She started to shake and quiver like a leaf as her fearful eyes locked on to the demonic eyes belonging to the tall figure towering over her. Her still-slightly-swollen black eye stung when tears started to accumulate within her reddening, bloodshot scaleras while her pupils shrank into dots.

She didn't even have time to blink.

"Ahh. Nice of you to join us, Miss. Heartfilia..."

Lucy let out a silent scream.

* * *

_Sometime later..._

The Fairy tail group had halted in front of the doors of their destination upon arriving.

The atmosphere was thick with so much tension that it almost seemed hard to breathe as the rain was really coming down hard now as large droplets of rain came smashing down from the black/grey skies above. A flash of light snapped through the skies, thunder boomed in a loud enough cacophony to shake the earth.

Everyone had become tense yet cold, as well as thoroughly soaked to the bone. In spite of their aching bodies, everyone had tried to stuff their discomfort deep down since they put all their thoughts with Lucy and her wellbeing.

Thunderheads loomed menacingly overhead as thunder rumbled in the distance, the promise of lightning lurked ever closer.

Natsu, Wendy and Gajeel cautiously led the Fairy tail pack up front with slight trepidation in their footsteps the closer the Fairy tail group had come to the poacher of sound's abode. Since the Dragon slayers were the ones who had the best sense of hearing and sense of smell (that and they were the ones tracking their lost friends), they took the lead.

Erza stepped up first as she silently scrutinised the door of this damp and depressing-looking place for a moment before whisking a narrowed-eyed frown over to the three Dragon slayers.

The red-haired warrioress eyed the tower with great caution, skepticism and suspicion.

"Are you guys sure that this is the place?" She asked.

"We're sure." Wendy replied confidently.

"This is where her scent is strongest." Gajeel added.

Everyone glanced up at this tower.

It was huge with black bricks, tall structure that had terraces lining said structure and triangular rooftops that reached to the skies and could have easily touched the storm clouds above. This dark, dank, dreary castle made several tremors quake down each and every single one of their spines and since the tower was so high it caused everyone to obtain a crick in the back of their necks due to the strain of looking up. The deep dark castle stood proud and tall, the structure of dark gray stone basked in the shade where the storm clouds rolled in and the raindrops pummelled down.

This was where Lucy was?

Judging by how that Poacher of sound lived by committing crimes,

Natsu was unnaturally quiet as he stewed in his own thoughts.

This wasn't the first time Lucy had been abducted and locked in a tower and, considering what he'd heard from his friend's woeful tale from her childhood, she was probably used to being locked up and isolated. The mere thought of Lucy being locked up and hurt made the fire in Natsu's belly churn and then blaze violently within him, not even realising that this caused his hands to burst into flames.

Why had she done this...?

Why had Lucy run off...?

Did she know she could get seriously hurt...or worse?

He didn't want to take his infuriation out on her but he was still a mess of emotions right now as he didn't know how to take that confession she had made in her letter. All he wanted to do was rescue her at all costs and ask her if what she was talking about was true?

Did she really love-love him, more than a friend?

He huffed through his nostrils while he extinguished the flames formed around each of his fists.

Makarov noticed the pink-haired wizard's tense and proceeded to speak up whilst addressing everyone, especially Natsu.

"No matter what, everyone, we have to stick together. Who knows if we could get ambushed or-"

The old man was interrupted.

A bright light flashed all of a sudden, alighting the area for a split second. Everyone blinked a multitude of times to try and rid themselves of the dizziness that caused them to be disoriented for a split couple of seconds until they looked around to regain their bearings. They swivelled their heads all around them repeatedly before their gazes settled on one another.

But they all felt a serious dread settle into the pit of their stomachs.

That light wasn't lighting, they knew this because of the lack of thunder.

But what was that...?

Dread had swept over the lot of them as they knew something was the matter.

And it had something to do with Lucy.

That light was magical and it felt familiar...

"N-Natsu?" Erza started, a tremble of unease present in her voice as she turned to him with wide eyes and a suddenly pale complexion. "...I-In that letter, how long did Lucy say her voice lasted until it faded?"

Natsu felt dread overcome him, his onyx eyes flashing a bright jade green colour.

That poacher of sound...he wouldn't...!

Natsu's eyes popped wide open as a gasp slipped from the deepest chasms of his stomach and out of his mouth. His ears perked and his stomach constricted in knots as he realised that Lucy was most likely in severe danger.

He dashed forwards and inside the tower without wasting another second.

He didn't even seem to acknowledge it when he heard everyone behind calling out for him in a panicked fashion, leaving them behind as he vanished into the darkness of the inside of this slovenly, grim tower. The shouts of his guild mates soon faded into nothingness as he kept on running through blind darkness. He knew that there wasn't time to plan any rescue and he knew that this was the singular opportunity where his fight-first-think-about-things-later attitude would come in handy.

A choir of shouts accumulated.

"NATSU!"

"SALAMANDER, COME BACK HERE!"

"NATSU DRAGNEEL! COME BACK THIS INSTANT!"

But Natsu was far from hearing range by now, even as a Dragon slayer.

Everyone stared in shocked bewilderment as they watched the pink-haired fire wizard vanish into the dark corridors inside of the building, their mouths agape. They all tried to process what had just happened. What was Natsu thinking!? Did he not hear the master when he said that thing about sticking together!? They didn't even try to hide their stunned shock anymore.

A very long few moments of silence passed them by.

Then Gray spoke up as he shrugged simply.

"Well, look on the bright side, at least we won't have to listen to his complaining..."

* * *

**A/N: Heres a new chapter, guys.**

**Will Natsu be able to be Lucy's knight in armor?**

**Will he be able to save her before something bad happens?**

**Stay tuned and find out.**

**-Chloemcg**


	18. Natsu and the beast

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

The hot-tempered Dragon slayer ran, he didn't know how long he'd been running for but it felt like hours had passed him by.

He dashed as fast as he possibly could while he used his nose and heightened sense of hearing to guide him through the deep and dark corridors that seemed to go on forever. The hallway seemed to stretch on and on with no end in sight, all there was was darkness and not much else. It was hard to navigate around these dark hallways and corridors but he adamantly refused to let the low ambience of this gloomy castle interfere, though, as he swore that he wasn't going to let anything happen to Lucy, he would rather die then let something like that happen!

He stopped for a sec and straightened his posture.

He started sniffing once again with his nose pointed high in the air but there was a strong combinations of scents that crossed and drowned his sinuses in confusion as he tried his best to pick out that one smell that he hoped would belong to Lucy, that Poacher of sounds or both.

'_Where could he have taken her...?_' He wondered.

The Dragon slayer didn't even have the sense to use his fire magic to alight the area.

Not only that but but Natsu was very anxious about that light that shined before he entered without the rest of the guild.

What was that light?

Could it have been Lucy's voice?

He just kept running and running as fast as he could, sweat started to drip from his head to the floor below as his energy began to run low. He started to grow breathless as his energy fizzled out like someone snuffing out a feeble flame and he was forced to slow his steps and he started to feel this need to take serious caution the further he ventured into the dreary stone hallways.

The pink-haired dragon slayer's onyx eyes drifted slowly from left to right, his posture was as stiff as stone and he couldn't rid himself of a dark and horrible feeling that had settled in the pit of his chasmic abyss of a stomach.

He slowly stalked through the corridor for what felt like ages, his unease growing by the second.

He soon stopped when he suddenly found himself in a strange-looking area, his eyes widened, his mouth dropped wide open, his heart dropped into his stomach for the second time, his skin started to crawl and break out into goosebumps.

This cell felt cold as he meandered into it and he started to gaze warily at his surroundings.

The air was dark and filled with this sense of brooding.

The atmosphere was so heavy that gravity itself threatened to crush him, the place was really dark and strangely circular...kind of like some sort of arena with a dungeon twist.

The floor was made from dark cobblestone, the amalgamated granite walls were constantly threatening to crumble, the air was damp due to the mild condensation that hung in the air. There were chains strapped to the walls, moisture dripped from the ceiling, the sound of metal echoed through the hollow and round chamber. The door was like a cage made from sturdy iron bars that Gajeel would probably find to be quite a treat.

But the main feature of this strange enclosure was the large and fluffy blue monster asleep in the centre. It snorted loudly as it was _clearly _very much unaware of the pink-haired fire wizards presence...or anything else for that matter.

Natsu blinked.

He recognised that thing as the Poacher of sound's pet from the beginning of this entire mess.

When that wizard ambushed them all in the forest!

The large creature snoozed away as it slept, its inhales and exhales sounding much like the revs of the engine of a Ferrari. It's eyes were closed and it seemed to have a cat-like mannerism of laying on its side as it slept apparently soundly...but there was this beastly air about it; Natsu felt like a rabbit caged with a fox. It was dark and the Dragon slayer could hardly see but he remedied this by making his own fists light themselves aflame and he ground his fangs.

Regardless, he made sure to be quiet as he crept up towards the slumbering monster yet it's snores were so loud that the pinkette almost felt inclined to cover his sensitive ears.

He stalked closer and closer, stopping to the side of the monster's face.

Natsu felt his heart stop for a moment when he suddenly saw the ursine-like monster's big red eye flicker open and let out a low and monstrous snarl. It's muzzle scrunched up and it bared it's razor sharp teeth at him as it seemed to regain enough consciousness to try and stand on all four of its huge claws. It's ears flicked backwards and the fur on its back raised into hackles to show its aggression.

Natsu stepped back in reaction to the monster awakening but scowled and adjusted his battle stance in an equally fierce and vicious gesture.

He was determined to seize this moment and then grab it by the horns.

He _refused _to let this fuzzy beast get in the way of him rescuing Lucy!

"I'm fired up now..."

The monster stomped a claw and unleashed a roar so mighty that it caused the entire cell to tremble and quake, it shook violently under the force of its loud voice, the magical bars of the cell crumbled like bits of dried up clay and fell and melted apart due to the intense burst of heat. The chains jingled and jangled and clinked as they vibrated with the roar erupting from the beast caged within it.

It snorted aggressively and chuffed as it crouched down and snarled at Natsu.

The stone floors cracked under the dragon slayer's feet.

But he refused to be intimidated!

Intense flames burst all around the dragon slayer. His muscles clenched and tightened, his eyes glowed a rich jade green, his jaw wrenched tight, his spine trembled, his kneecaps bunched up. His eyes narrowed and his fangs gnashed tightly. He leaped up into the air, fist flaming, and thrust his flaming fist so it collided right into the monster's jaw and the impact of the punch made the monster's head snap to the left.

**"FIRE DRAGON IRON FIST!" **Natsu cried, his voice carrying a terse echo.

The fur on the beast's muzzle was now singed and the flaming punch was severe, the collision was like a meteorite smashing into the earth.

The two went at it for quite a while; the monster kept right on charging for Natsu and trying to get at him. It unsheathed it's sharp claws and made several attempts to swat at the pink-haired fire wizard and even made multiple attempts to chomp down on him but Natsu always dodged and fought back with his own attacks such as his **"Fire dragon roar"** or his **"Fire dragon talon"**.

It felt as though an eternity had passed but Natsu was _not _giving up.

The fire wizard of Fairy tail landed hard on the now-cracked cobblestone floor and gave a soft "oof" as he landed on his knees —the fire on his body extinguished and left his hair and shoulders sizzling and smoking. He hung his head and huffed and puffed from the very depths of his lungs that felt quite deflated after using so much power. He breathlessly panted hard as he clutched at his chest.

He lifted his gaze, pushed himself to his feet and saw that the monster collapsed to the floor unconscious for a few moments. He didn't hesitate so he ran up alongside the collapsed giant beast, circling it, and he skidded to a halt to its right.

Now that it was temporarily down for the count, perhaps he could take advantage of it.

He smirked to himself.

This was his chance!

He jumped up, spread his legs apart and mounted himself on the monster's back whilst he grabbed hold of some of the fur on the monster to keep himself from toppling off.

The second Natsu jumped on top the beast it instantly came to and started bucking and making violent attempts to try and shake him off. He growled with strain as he jerked the fur of the bear-like beast and this caused it to go flying towards the wall with its head down and it let out roars and shrieks of fury as it bucked and kicked to get the wizard off of its back, literally. The pinkette refused to be shaken off, though.

He kept himself perched on the spot that he'd just clambered on to and gripped on tight to some large tufts of cobalt blue fur.

The beast snarled angrily...only to be stopped abruptly when Natsu aggressively leaned in close, his face inches away from the beast's large snout. All animalistic fury immediately melted away from the large blue-furred beast and was very quickly replaced by a look of terror. It's eyes were wide as it gazed fearfully into the slitted emerald green reptilian pupils that belonged to the fiery dragon slayer himself.

The pinkette snarled.

"Look here, fuzzy-wuzzy!" Natsu's scowl could have easily bore scorch marks into its soul. "I am going to save Lucy and get that voice you and your freakish rider stole back! I need to get to her as fast as possible and you're gonna let me ride ya! Understand!?"

The ursine-like beast gave a hurried nod and a conceding huff through its nostrils.

The beast didn't make anymore sounds of protest as he let the Dragon slayer climb up and sit on his back. He kicked the monster in the side to nudge it into motion and it proceeded to charge right out of the cell with newly-found vigour as it bashed through the magic bars, with Natsu's assistance, thanks to him melting the bars into mush, and he grabbed on tight to its fur to steer it.

Natsu growled to himself.

He was going to save Lucy!

* * *

**A/N: Heres a new chapter, guys!**** I hope you lot have enjoyed it, I made a battle between Natsu and that bear monster. Next up it's time for Natsu to rescue Lucy! Can he (and the rest of the guild when they make it) get there in time to save her?**

**Will her voice vanish?**

**Stay tuned to find out!**

**-Chloemcg**


	19. Natsu to the rescue

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Natsu kept right on steering the beast he was currently mounted upon the back of.

The monster's large paws thundered as they slammed into the ground with each charging step, the beast snorted in an exerted manner and growled as it ran with its current rider tugging _hard _on its back fur to steer it from left to right.

The Fairy tail wizard with pink hair ground his fangs so hard that sparks shot out from the sheer severity of the friction. His eyes had never stopped being narrowed with rage, his eyes seemed to refuse to change back into their normal obsidian orbs and were instead diamond-shaped with a jade green colour with the pupils and irises slitted, his arm and leg muscles bunched together and tightened, angry veins pulsated against his forehead, sweat stuck to his skin. His heart was in his throat the entire time as he heard the crashing of thunder rumble the castle inside, his worry and anxieties always at its peak.

None of that actually mattered to him, though, since all he could think about was Lucy...

Ever since he had read that confession of hers in that letter she'd left behind, his heart felt as though a hole had been ripped in it and the only way to fill it was to...he didn't know what but he knew that Lucy was involved with whatever it was. He had never realised that she felt that way towards him. He would have been lying if he didn't have some attraction towards the Stellar wizard.

But that wasn't even the point.

When that yellow flash of light happened earlier, the Dragon slayer _knew _that it had something to do with Lucy and almost nothing could convince him otherwise.

Natsu bounced with each and every charging step the ursine-like-beast took but he kept a very tight hold on the fistfuls of fur he was gripping on to to keep the monster charging forth like a bull. His breaths hissed out through his gritted fangs and his eyes burned from a lack of blinking, his heart pounded hard and thumped against his skull.

It was painful.

He gasped and his eyes shot wide open when, in the meantime, a painful cluster of memories burst into his mind that started striking his psyche like a bolt of lightning. The voices of Lucy, Happy and himself echoed through his brain as a multitude of different occasions of the things Lucy had said all came together and pounded through his skull and rang in his sharp ears.

All those memories came flooding back to him like a tidal wave.

—-

_"Is your match about to start?"_

_"Yup and I'm gonna win it for sure!"_

_"Natsu, I believe in you. I always have from the moment I joined the guild..."_

_"Thanks! That means a lot to me!"_

_—-_

_"C'mon, Lucy, we are not gonna go out crying!"_

_"Fairy Tail never gives up the fight!"_

—-

_"She's our best friend and teammate! The one who completes us!"_

_—-_

_"Thanks for saving my butt back there, Lucy."_

_"U-Um, sure don't mention it."_

_—-_

_"Don't worry about me, just keep running and don't look back!"_

_"Nngh...N-No way..."_

_*Screams*_

_"I refuse to run away, I-I won't do it. I'd rather stay here with you, I can't think of anything that would make me happier..."_

_—-_

"If that creep hurt a hair on Lucy's head then I'll gladly burn him into a pile of ashes!" He growled to himself internally.

Natsu was snapped out of his violently forced lightning strike of memories as his eyes widened in horror as he quickly picked up on a sound, his sharp Dragon slayer hearing picking up on the foreign noise that echoed through the hallways. The fire wizard's expression was one of pure shock as a sudden sound carried through the wind and found its way into his ears.

It was a peculiar noise...but it was a noise that made his heart pound.

A loud high-pitched ringing...

...a whistle?

Natsu froze as realisation hit hard at that moment.

The whistle he gave Lucy...!

He lifted his head and sniffed the air, his nose quickly picking up that single scent that seemed to overwhelm the entire area; as he approached his destination, that specific scent grew stronger and stronger and he found the scent concerning.

It was the faint yet flickering smell of vanilla and cherries.

That was Lucy's scent!

Natsu pulled hard on the beast's fur, signalling it to come to a screeching halt.

It was only when it did just that that he disembarked from the monster's back and started to let his heightened senses guide him to his friend since he managed to inhale her scent through his nostrils. Judging by how strong the scent was, he knew that he was getting close to finding her and, without wasting another instant, he took off running into the darkness once more.

He left the monster behind, dumbfounded.

Natsu broke into a hasty sprint down the lengthily dark hallways. It was like traversing a Labyrinth. Despite the fact that it was near pitch black and he could hardly see a single thing in front of him, he let his instincts and good sense of hearing guide him.

Fires licked at both sides of his body, sweat had begun to steadily drip off his face and he could feel his gut clench inward. He felt his mind pulsate and his chest wouldn't cease rumbling and the closer he got to his supposed destination, the stronger his fire became. The flames that erupted from his very limbs managed to illuminate his path and reveal that he had been running down a very long hallway that appeared to stretch on for what seemed like centuries.

Heck, even his hamstrings started to pull after doing nothing but run for minutes at a time!

His heavy pants echoed and reverberated through the walls and ceiling, his echo seeming to carry on for miles in this dark and cavernous hallway.

Thankfully he didn't have to run for too much longer, though, thus he skidded to a halt when he abruptly reached the bottom of a stone slab staircase. The heavens had opened by now and the rain was now pouring down in bucketloads, the skies were filled with dark gray clouds and raindrops pelted everyone who was unfortunate enough to be standing beneath it.

Natsu's salmon pink spikes of hair had flattened thanks to the rain.

It didn't take long before he found the Poacher of sound standing on the edge of the tower rooftop with his back turned, this evil essence emanating from his body. Even though Natsu couldn't see his face, he could easily envision the vile smirk twisting upon his lips. The man was thoroughly soaked to the bone so it was easy to tell that he had been standing in the rain for a good long while.

"Where is she!?" The dragon slayer shouted, growling angrily.

The man had his back to him but decided to taunt the angered Dragon slayer by pretending to act all innocent.

"What could you possibly be referring to?"

Natsu snarled. He wasn't in the mood for any of this and he could swear that his fury was ever increasing to the boiling point. He barked with his fangs snapping menacingly at the stranger each and every time a word spat from his mouth.

"You know what I'm talking about! Give me my Lucy back!"

Natsu almost stopped when he realised what he had just said.

His Lucy...?

He shook his head to snap himself out of his momentary stupor.

He'd think about that later!

"Oh you mean..."

The mysterious stranger trailed off yet decided to answer his question, he turned around with a visible dark grin tugging at the corners of his lips and revealed what he'd been holding. He was holding a struggling Lucy tight in a choke-hold, the tip of his sword pressed firmly against her throat but not enough to cause any damage.

"...This?"

Lucy tried to struggle but the pressure of the blade forced her to stop and she just looked at Natsu in a look overflowing with pity, knowing, this sense of apology, sorrow, frustration, pain, frustration and many more emotions that not even she could describe. The blower of the whistle still hung from her lips.

Natsu faltered for a sec before regaining his determined stance.

He gasped in horror

"Lucy!"

Now that he found her, Natsu couldn't help but feel an intense growl rumble from deep within his throat. His obsidian eyes flashed a menacing jade green and he thrust his fists forwards, igniting them into an aggressive inferno. He started to shake with rage and fury and the raindrops trailed down his face as the drops mixed in with the droplets of sweat that stuck to his skin.

The Dragon slayer snarled.

"Look, you voice-stealing jerk! You had better give her back or I will...!"

"Or you'll what?"

A devilish grin widened on his lips and his posture straightened when in the maddened mage repositioned Lucy's head and neck in his arms so the blade was pressing dangerously close to her jugular vein.

Natsu felt his threat die in his throat at the sight of the dangerous position his friend was in.

That adjustment this guy had made implied that this poacher of sound would do the unthinkable and he couldn't risk Lucy's health and life if he could help it. He forced the thought from his mind instantly and just stared at the man.

"You can't hope to lay a finger on me~" He taunted darkly.

Natsu reluctantly extinguished the flames and slowly lowered his battle stance.

His face was serious and so were his eyes.

Then he noticed something around his foe's neck, Lancer's necklace; the Dragon slayer noticed that the yellow light contained in the necklace, presumably Lucy's captive voice, was fading and had a rather low opacity.

Natsu and Lancer stared each other down, their eyes narrowed into tight daggers.

So sneering were those glares that they were looking increasingly like they could shoot laser beams from those darkening scowls. Their faces were tight as they frowned and they both circled one another; neither wizard spoke a word until they finally stopped circling each other like vultures in the desert skies who circled their deceased prey but their scowls grew ever darker.

The Poacher of sound glared right at Natsu.

The sound stealer kept his grip tight on Lucy as he kept his sword raised and ready to slice her neck should she try and escape his grasp. He spoke up, his eyes slowly becoming wild as he grit his teeth in a menacing way.

"What makes you think that I would give up your precious Lucy and her voice?"

Natsu growled, his own glare darkening while he snarled from the deepest depths of his throat and he flared his nostrils and his muscles tightened as his rage flared up. His, his eyes somewhat animalistic and his smirk twisted as he chuckled grimly under his breath and he snapped his fingers suddenly, causing his entire hand to combust into flaming fire.

He was going to make the Poacher of sounds eat those very words..._as forcefully as possible._

He was about to launch forwards to knock his flaming fist into the side of the man's face but was stopped by a light blue blur zipping passed him and then proceeding to streak over to Lancer's smug and punchable face.

Lancer cried out in pain and agony.

Natsu had to blink repeatedly until he finally noticed that the blue blur was none other than a certain blue exceed. Happy launched himself out of nowhere, soaring through the air like a bullet, and instantly took to scratching the mysterious foe's face with his sharp claws. He let out several cat yowls and squeals as he assaulted the guy by clawing his face again and again without stopping even for a second.

As the exceed attacked the sound stealing wizard, the rest of the Fairy tail guild had arrived on scene and went to join Happy in distracting the man who dared harm their friend.

"Natsu, we've got this! Go get Lucy!"

Natsu was stunned as he watched the blue cat attacking the man's face, his face pure disbelief. He hadn't expected Happy to arrive so soon and he must have decided to intervene the instanthe had spotted how Lucy was in serious danger. He did feel a great measure of pride, though, and he struggled to pick his jaw up from the ground.

When he regained his bearings, he nodded.

He didn't need to be told twice!

He ran to rescue Lucy, hoping to catch her.

But he didn't know if she would be ok.

* * *

**A/N: ****Here's a new chapter of "Spellbound voice"! And it seems that Natsu and Happy are about to fight back against Lancer the Poacher of sound. Will they succeed in getting her voice back? And what about the guild? Will they get there in time?**

**Stay tuned, everyone, and find out!**

**-Chloemcg **


	20. Hearts of fire

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

**Krak-THOOOOOOOOOOOM!**

The thunder and lightning raged on, the rain befell and pelted all who stood beneath it.

Natsu ran while very heavy raindrops came hammering down on top and he couldn't help but flinch with pain when each and every one of those harsh raindrops hit him, feeling like teeny daggers piercing his fiery warm skin as each drop pelted him. He winced as each little raindrop hit him, the raindrops were pelting him hard and the thunder rumbling overhead was quite loud but he shrugged it off as he knew that he had bigger things to worry about other than the intensity of the rainfall.

His heart was pumping harder than it ever had before, his body was shaking with a mix of fear and adrenaline, his knees constantly threatened to buckle out from under him when he merely thought about Lucy getting hurt in any way, shape or form.

All of a sudden, the world lit up in a blinding flash momentarily as the lightning struck for a single instant.

The lightning flash was so intense that he had to blink several times to try and clear the black blotches from his vision. He stood there in a daze as he tried to recover his senses after the lightning strike, his eyes squinting to try and see clearly through blotchy and bleary eyes. It felt like a century flew by before his vision rectified itself and cleared up yet that didn't ease his haywire emotions.

As a matter of fact, those feelings worsened as his eyes fell on a limp, unconscious form.

His face became a mask of worry.

It was Lucy.

Natsu didn't waste any time and he felt as his heart leapt into his throat as he ran to her, fell to his knees next to her, and proceeded to put two fingers to her neck and he breathed a soft sigh of relief when he felt a soft thumping beneath his fingers —that same relief flooded over him like an ocean wave washing over a sandy shore when he felt that sign of life gently bumping the tips of his fingers.

A pulse.

Lucy had probably gotten frightened and fainted as a result as she had fallen to an unconscious heap on the castle gables after Lancer let go of her, her eyes closed and mouth very slightly agape. Natsu felt a heap of guilt and shame pile on as he cradled the unconscious young lady close to his chest, much like one would with a baby. His lips quivered and he swallowed a huge limp that had formed inside his throat that tried to manifest itself as a sob.

He squeezed his eyes shut, in an attempt to fight back against any oncoming tears, and shook his head stubbornly to himself.

This wasn't the time to start crying.

Not now.

He opened his eyes again, though, when he noticed that Lucy had somehow apparently grabbed hold of one of his hands.

Natsu looked into Lucy's face and realised just how weak she truly had become. She had not used her magic power and it must have taken a toll on her, but she didn't even seem to care about that. He could tell by looking into her eyes. She, as always, was not thinking about herself. She was thinking about someone else...him, he had to guess.

Natsu wanted to smile at this.

With or without a voice, Lucy would never change or lose that selflessness.

But the Dragon slayer with salmon pink hair just clung to her even tighter than before.

"L-L-Lucy!" He cried, holding Lucy carefully against him as she looked weakly up at him.

Lightning crashed overhead.

The blonde Fairy tail mage's eyes were watery and her lower lip quivered as she stared up pitifully at Natsu, she tried to keep her eyes open as she had taken to staring blankly up at the dark skies that loomed right above her. Her hazel brown eyes were overflowing with emotion as she knew that all of this was her fault, if she had just stayed home then _none _of this would be happening right now...!

The Celestial wizard's mind was in such a chaotic fog that her ears could hardly pick up Natsu's words as he started to speak to her.

He furled both arms around her both gently yet protectively.

"Shhhhhhhh. I'm here, I'm here! Don't try to move!" He spoke hushedly yet hurriedly. "I've gotcha..."

Now, Lucy would have been fibbing to the highest degree if she had claimed that she didn't enjoy being held in Natsu's strong arms with her head resting against his chest, she found being held by him comforting and it made her feel cared about. She almost wanted to go to sleep like this, safe in Natsu's arms, since being taken hostage had taken a lot out of her but she _refused _to sit by and let this unfold without her doing a single solitary thing; she needed to do what she had come to do in the first place —get her voice back.

Even now, she could feel it fading away from the charm it was locked in.

Lucy stared at Natsu long and hard in a way that basically asked "What are you doing here?"

"...I'm came to save you, ya big weirdo of a dummy," He said with a strong hint of relief present in his voice.

Lucy stared longingly into Natsu's eyes, that had turned their angry/determined jade green colour by now, and felt her heart pound with anticipation —she felt awful for causing so much trouble for everyone in her guild. Her chest felt tight and her mind was clouded with fatigue as she tried her hardest to will her legs to move in an effort to pry herself out of Natsu's arms and stand...she had to get her voice, she had to _rip _it out of that dumb poacher's hands...but she couldn't.

She felt so weak that it was unbearable.

She didn't want to have the others do what she should be doing herself!

That was the entire point of her running away to begin with.

_"I can't...I can't let the others get hurt for my sake! I won't let that happen!"_

An ear-splitting cymbal of thunder interrupted her thoughts.

The second the thunder exploded overhead, Lucy found herself subconsciously clinging to Natsu while throwing both of her arms around his neck before she could even think about it. Her eyes were wide open now and every inch of her expression was overflowing with this mix of panic and stunned shock.

Natsu rubbed her head, hoping to quell her worries and fears.

The fire wizard couldn't help but rock Lucy in his arms to try and calm her fears, even though he was pretty sure she didn't appreciate being treated like a baby; he could even feel her sudden scowl land on him while he stared at the poacher of sound.

Natsu observed as Happy continued trying to distract the Poacher of sound.

Happy just kept on scratching the wizard's face over and over and over again with his claws unsheathed , leaving _a lot _of bloody claw marks on his face. The startling thing, though, was that this man hardly seemed phased. Actually he just had the most enraged yet rather annoyed expression on his face. He grabbed hold of Happy's right wing, causing the young exceed to gasp and cease his assault, before the Poacher of sound threw him off of him.

It not only sent the blue cat hurtling quite a distance away but, in a swift instance, he had withdrew a _second _charm and had started chanting the incantation to steal Happy's voice.

Happy hovered idly for a few moments, watching as the Poacher of sound's new charm beamed a stream of light at his throat. Happy felt his spine crawl when he felt his own voice begin to suck out of him. He tried his best to move to avoid the beam literally sucking the voice out of him but it was sucking his voice out faster then he could move out of the way.

A crooked smirk curled on his little cat lips.

"Luckily for me, I don't need my voice to use my magic power!" He exclaimed smugly, his the volume of his voice diminishing with each word spoken and, without missing a beat, he reached forwards and slashed the guy across the face once more.

Lancer snarled in angered frustration, this cat was _really _getting on his nerves!

Natsu got up and intervened as he ran up to Lancer, smacked the hand that the sound poacher was holding the charm used to absorb Happy's voice, making him let go of said charm, and the charm went clanging to the ground below. The instant the charm hit the ground (it was still opened) the bright blue aura residing within flew back into Happy's throat.

Happy smiled happily as he pumped his paw triumphantly.

"Yes! Aye sir!"

But the air between Natsu and the Poacher of sound became tense and heavy.

The two men glared at each other.

Natsu and Lancer slowly circled each other, their eyes narrowed into tight daggers.

So sneering were those glares that they were looking increasingly like they could shoot laser beams from those darkening scowls. Their faces were tight as they frowned and they both continued to circle each other with their careful and graceful footsteps sounding heavy against the floor they stood on. They didn't speak a word until they finally stopped circling each other like vultures in the desert skies who circled their deceased prey but their scowls grew ever darker.

"I'll ask you once more. Give Lucy her voice back,"

Natsu, his eyes somewhat animalistic and his smirk twisted as he chuckled grimly under his breath and he snapped his fingers suddenly, confusing the Poacher of sound momentarily as he glared right back.

"What makes you think that I would give up your precious Lucy and her voice?" He asked, his eyes slowly becoming wild as he grit his teeth in a menacing way.

Natsu growled darkly, a demented look on his face.

"What do you even want Lucy's voice for anyway? If I ain't mistaken, her voice is going to vanish very soon unless it's put back into her anyway! What's the deal!?" He demanded.

Lancer sneered with a twisted and cruel smirk curling upon his lips.

He started to explain in a sadistic tone of voice.

"If I must justify myself then here it is: There were people more than willing to pay a _handsome _price in exchange for the voice belonging to the one and only Lucy Heartfillia, people who wish to understand how the powers of a Celestial wizard works and the like. But, alas, as you have just said, her voice won't remain stable for much longer. You ruined my plans when you ambushed me in that village so I decided to simply make sure the girl _never speaks again_. There can be no better revenge."

Natsu started to tremble with fury and anger.

That was what this was all about?

This guy was attempting to purposefully get rid of Lucy's voice!? If Lucy didn't have her voice back then it would be dreadful for her...! She wouldn't be able to contact her Celestial spirits anymore and they meant the world to her!

That would crush her and the mere thought made his heart quiver with pain.

He prepared a rage-filled retort but he never got to spit it out since someone had shouted out to him and he couldn't help but turn to face the person who shouted out. His eyes widened when he saw that everyone had finally caught up with Happy, Lucy and himself and his eyes focused on none other than Erza whom had requipped into her Flame Empress Armor.

The red-haired warrioress had seemed to prepare some fire in foresight and hardly hesitated in withdrawing her sword from its scabbard and then using it to swing the flames said sword had produced much like someone would swing a baseball bat.

"Natsu! Catch this!" She exclaimed before swinging the sword.

The flames came flying towards Natsu like a meteorite.

He caught the flames easily in one hand and wasted no time in bringing said flames to his mouth and chomped down on them. The second his ivory fangs latched on to the crackling flames, he sucked it all into his mouth and started to chew on them. He couldn't deny that that fire left quite a rich aftertaste in his mouth and it wasn't a taste that he particularly liked since he knew of much tastier fire he'd eaten.

It took a moment for him to swallow and he immediately felt overwhelmed by so much power.

The fire dragon slayer growled, his own glare darkening, his onyx eyes flashing jade green. His muscles bunched together, his breathing became rage-filled hisses of fury, his brows knitted together, his face became as hard as stone, his upper body practically combusted into flames on the spot, and he snarled from the very depths of his throat. Fire blew from his nose and, within an instant, the skin beneath his eyes, his forearms, his chest and his became covered in reddening scales. His lungs felt as though they were on fire.

Everyone knew what this meant.

Natsu had activated Dragon force.

A hint of a smirk swept across Natsu's face.

"I'm fired up now."

Everyone present watched in wide-eyed, slack-jawed awe as Natsu wasted no time in charging towards his foe like an angry bull charging at a matador. He was like a comet flying towards him with bright orange flames blazing behind him. The pinkette snarled and growled as he threw punch-after-punch repeatedly, his jade green eyes burning holes into the Poacher of sound's soul.

Fortunately, though, since the Poacher of sounds was preoccupied, it gave Gray an ample opportunity to make his move as he slid forth and tore the necklace containing Lucy's voice right off of the man's neck but the second he grabbed it, the charm dropped from his clasp and Lancer managed to momentarily look away from Natsu and made a move to snatch the charm back but he only managed to inadvertently kick it into the air to prevent dropping it to the ground and possibly breaking it.

That was when it all quickly descended into a game of keep-away.

"Juvia! Catch!" Gray chucked it to Juvia.

Juvia gasped as she watched the necklace come flying towards her.

She had to catch the necklace for Gray! No, for Lucy! But she didn't have much space to move to a spot that could keep the necklace safe so she needed to pass it on to someone else. Her heart jumped into her throat as she called on her water magic and she thrust her arm forwards, her hand glowing with blue magic power.

The water mage cried out "Water Nebula!" and a spurt of her water magic shot a geyser of water and deflected it so it was sent hurtling over towards Wendy.

The charm sailed through the air with a low whistle.

The sky dragon slayer ran forwards and caught it (albeit rather clumsily) out of the air before she ran a short distance and tossed it to Carla, whom was flying a short distance away from her. Her hazel brown eyes widened as she knew that her feline friend could hopefully grab it next, she raised her arm and lobbed it as hard as she could with her 13-year-old strength.

"Carla!" Wendy cried. "Your turn!"

The white exceed caught the charm necklace and was awed at the pulsating aura of Lucy's voice inside the necklace, until she recalled where she was, and then flew as fast as she could a short distance with a few more members of the guild running alongside her...but there were also some of Lancer's cronies gaining on her too in an attempt to retrieve the necklace.

Carla flapped her wings as hard as she could, subconsciously clutching the necklace containing Lucy's voice closer to her in a protective manner.

"E-Erza!" She exclaimed.

The charm flew out of her little cat paws and wound up being snatched right out of midair and being clutched (but not too hard) inside Erza's armoured grasp. She ran as fast as she could and then chucked it straight over to Mest who caught it in one hand.

Everyone in the guild passed the charm to one another, making sure to keep it as far away from the Poacher of sound as possible but they found it very hard to even make their way over to Lucy to give her the charm so she could reclaim her voice since Natsu and the sound-stealing wizard were fighting all over the place.

It was a miracle that Lucy hadn't even wound up getting more hurt from the brawling from those two!

But it all came to a head when someone caught the charm, panicked and then wound up throwing it off of the roof and everyone watched in horror as the charm containing Lucy's voice went sailing to the ground below. Happy, Carla nor Panther Lily wasted a single second before diving down to retrieve it before it could smash to the ground and Lucy's voice could possibly vanish for good.

Now all that was left to do was pray as Natsu battled the Poacher of sound.

What would happen?

Who would be victorious?

* * *

**A/N: Heres the newest chapter, everyone and I ****hope you lot enjoy it. Sadly I'm in self isolation because of the Corona virus so that sucks. I hope it clears up soon but I sincerely hope the lot of you have enjoyed this chapter.**

**I made sure you lot have a battle to remember.**

**I hope you lot have a nice evening.**

**Don't forget to review and fave, everyone.**

**-Chloemcg**


	21. Slipping away

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Lucy blinked her eyes, her swollen black eye especially, with exhaustion.

Had she fallen asleep?

No, she must had passed out due the weakness she felt thanks to not being able to use her magic power because of her voice being gone...

She grit her teeth as she regained the first few semblances of consciousness and she began to realise that every single bone, ligament and muscle in her body hurt like mad and it was extremely difficult to even gather the strength to lift her head. She struggled to find her feet for a minute but, when she did, she started to hobble and limp straight over to the Poacher of sound.

The nerves in her body screamed with pain as her body protested her moving, only for the stellar wizard to try hard to ignore them.

Her eyes (especially her darkened one) were narrowed into a tight glare as she wrapped one of her own arms around herself to clutch at her right side that had more than likely been injured. She was sure that she gong to get quite a bit of internal bruising...

She moaned (without making a sound, of course) as the thunder crashed over her head and the raindrops falling from the sky hit her hard. She felt as though the very sky above was trying to come down around her and it made her head pound painfully.

Lucy sat up gingerly, her lungs burning and her body shivering with cold and that was the moment when her gaze fell upon a scene that made her heart sink.

Natsu and the Poacher of sound grappled and threw multiple kicks, punches, headbutts, letting their limbs fly all over the place, biting each other and even scratching one another as they tumbled about violently on the rooftop of the tower. The guild wanted to join in on the scrap but decided against it when they all came to the realisation that they wouldn't be able to without possibly harming Natsu and adding to the danger.

Lucy's heart ached at the sight as Natsu hadn't seemed to notice that she had regained consciousness —she looked down at her own two hands and clenched them into tight fists since she couldn't afford to doubt herself now especially with the very lives of her friends at stake...!

She had to act!

The Celestial mage squinted her good eye at the scene, trying to focus her eyesight so she could focus on the two quarrelling wizards.

Natsu was throwing several fiery punches and even a "Fire dragon fist" before breaking away from the poacher of sound and then lifting himself into the air before he spread his arms, lighting them both aflame, before smacking both arms together as they made the shapes of a pair of dragons wings.

**"FIRE DRAGON WING ATTACK!" **He cried out, watching as his attack scorched the wizard's chest.

But, in Natsu's momentarily airborne state, the Poacher of sound seized a grip on one of the rails of the Dragon slayer's scarf and proceeded to yank on it hard and make Natsu flinch as he was tugged back down. Natsu's current jade green slits for eyes were wide in alarm as he felt his scaly scarf tighten around his neck.

He hadn't imagined that someone so callous would think to use his own scarf as a weakness...! But, then again, he supposed that Lancer, a wizard who stole peoples and other things sounds before selling them off to the highest bidder, would know all about taking other strengths and turning them into weaknesses.

In his moment of panic, Natsu gagged as he clawed at his neck but the sound stealer took his moment to strike and proceeded to scratch his opponent's face. Natsu cried out in pain as he continued grappling with Lancer, his fury doubling thanks to the pain of the new injury he'd just received. Even though he threw a multitude of fiery attacks, Lancer barely flinched even though each attack from Natsu left scorch marks on his clothes/body.

It was difficult to watch...!

Lucy had watched all of it in terror and she made a wobbly attempt to run forwards but was stopped mid-step when she heard a familiar voice.

"Luuuuuucy!"

The stellar wizard of Fairy tail whirled around to face the direction of the voice and it turned out to be Happy, soaring to her, with a small something in his paws. The mute Celestial mage had to squint her chocolate brown eyes until she realised that it was the charm that contained her voice.

Her eyes widened in a mix of alarm and joy.

Happy gave it to her, Lucy cracked the charm and then pried it open like a chestnut and she closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath, blocking out all noises and distractions. She started focusing every inch of her being on to making her voice work. It felt like someone had stuck a cork in her food pipe, still preventing her from making a sound, but she could feel a golden aura surrounding her body intensify, especially as she stood tall to straighten her posture and her eyes flew open again.

She felt revitalised!

"...Nnnn...Naaaaa...Naaatsu...Natsu! NATSU!" Lucy struggled to find her voice at first but when she did, she couldn't even hide her enthusiasm.

Her voice came out as a hoarse rasp, though.

She hadn't heard her own voice in what felt like years.

It felt good to hear herself once more.

Natsu froze mid fight and looked over at Lucy with a wide-eyed look of momentary amazement. His strong sense of hearing picked up on that familiar voice the _instant _he had heard. His Dragon force powers snapped off, as though someone had flipped a switch, and he (as well as everyone else on the scene, like the other guild members present) whirled his head around to stare at Lucy.

It didn't take long until he broke out into a huge fanged grin.

The salmon-haired dragon slayer was so joyful that he had _completely _forgotten about the bad man he was currently pinning to the ground; he was about to scramble to get himself off of the bad guy until Lucy hobbled hurriedly over, still clutching her painful side, smiled joyfully as she plopped down on her knees before wrapping her arms around Natsu's neck in a huge embrace.

Natsu was more than happy to return the hug and her nuzzled her face with his nose affectionately.

"I'm so glad you can speak again!" He cried.

The Celestial mage smiled in reply and the Fire Dragon slayer made sure to hold her just a bit tighter in his arms —however, while Natsu was distracted, Lancer slipped out right from underneath him and got to his feet so he was towering over Natsu and Lucy.

This was easy since the two Fairy tail wizards were on the roof tiles now and he smirked cruelly down at them with a deranged hint of a twitch in his left eye.

Natsu pulled Lucy close to him in a protective manner as he snarled like some animal protecting his mate from an oncoming threat. His eyes turned back into their jade green colour and he felt his spine arch and a monstrous hiss slipped from his fangs. He had been in a lot of battles. He sort of knew what to expect and he was in enough fights before to know, from a mere glance, when a foe was trying to bring harm upon him or anyone he held dear.

He was on the qui vive for anything this evil man would try and pull.

However that was when something unexpected happened as, without even wasting another instant, even forgetting her extreme fatigue, she whipped out one of her Celestial keys and summoned one of her spirits in the most joyous and loudest tone anyone had ever heard from her.

_**"Gate of the goat: Capricorn!"**_

Within seconds, a very tall anthropomorphic goat wearing sunglasses and a full on tuxedo appeared on the spot with a golden glow. The goat man seemed to be in disbelief that he was even there for a split few seconds before he clenched both his fists readily and smiled at Lucy.

"...You won't believe how good it is to hear you again, mistress Lucy!" He exclaimed happily with a genteel tone apparent in his voice.

Lucy couldn't have agreed more.

She smirked right back at him and gave him a thumbs up in agreement.

Natsu could help but stare at the blonde Celestial wizard in bewildered astonishment.

Lucy had recovered quick! Just a mere five minutes ago she could hardly muster the energy to even lift her head up and _now _she was commanding her Celestial spirits as if she had never lost her voice to begin with. She had that look in her eye and a large emboldened smile spread across her face, she appeared so strong in contrast as to how she appeared earlier.

Natsu smiled.

Lucy was back!

Lucy, Natsu, Happy and the rest of the guild watched in shock as Capricorn charged straight over to the stealer of sounds, using his horns to head him in the abdomen. It didn't take too long before Capricorn vanished with a golden glow following the sound of a doorbell.

The voice poacher cried out in pain from the impact the goat spirit's horns had collided with his stomach as he tumbled back and fell to the ground; his previous bravado had all but dissipated by this point.

Especially so when Natsu and Lucy joined hands and scowled darkly at him.

They grabbed tightly to each other's hands, a sparkly golden flame engulfed them both. Lucy panicked for a second when she saw the flame engulf her body but was overcome with surprise when it didn't burn in the least, in fact, she hardly felt a thing. She looked to Natsu who looked as used to this as he was to breathing. They shut their eyes simultaneously and let the flame increase in size and intensity.

They channeled the magic inside their bodies as much as they could and focused on the power within each other.

Natsu and Lucy chanted together in perfect harmony.

_**"Unison raid..."**_

Their eyes simultaneously opened —Natsu's eyes were a radiant emerald green colour and Lucy's eyes were a crimson blood red— and they both thrust their arms forth and shouted out as one.

**"...CELESTIAL BLAZING STAR!"**

With that, a pulsating yellow and orange beam of fiery light shot from their intertwined hands and it was directly aimed at the now attempting-to-flee wizard who had started to take off running but he couldn't even dodge it in time as the blast hit him full force and sent the Poacher of sounds hurtling through the air and he fell off the roof.

Everyone (except for Natsu) made a mental note to let the Rune knights handle him later on.

Now that Lancer was out of the way, everyone started to focus on the blonde wizard...but they instantly saw that something was wrong as the blonde young woman had suddenly gained a very pale complexion, seemed to barely be able to stand on her own, was wavering on her own two feet due to an abrupt lack of balance, and her eyes were suddenly glazed over with pure exhaustion.

"Lucy!" Levy gasped in terror, pointing over towards Lucy as she started to slip right off of the rooftop. Her gasp directed everyone's gazes over towards the blonde-haired Celestial wizard and they all instantly mirrored the blue haired Solid script wizard's terror as they saw the situation that she was now in.

Alarm spread through everyone like wildfire, what was going on!?

Lucy was so instantaneously out of it that she hadn't realised that she had been standing on the edge of the tower roof this whole time and was dangerously close to toppling over the edge and falling a great height down below. She couldn't help but gasp softly as her foot slid over the edge and she started to seriously lose her balance.

Everyone felt a mix of terror, horror and panic hit them all at once.

"Oh no!" Wendy gasped, starting to try and run to rescue her but Gajeel reached down and grabbed her shoulder before she could take another step.

"Don't try it, kid. None of us could get to her in time...!"

And the Iron Dragon slayer was right...sort of.

Wendy was a bit too small and young to rescue an older woman who was taller than her so if she tried to pull her up it would probably rip her small slender arm right out of its socket. Gajeel may not have been all too favourable when it came to children but he always felt this urge to protect the young Sky Dragon slayer...just like Natsu.

Anyway, everyone observed as Natsu seemed to notice Lucy's dire situation and promptly ran as fast as he could to grab her before she plummeted over the edge. He threw himself down on to his chest and tummy as he leaned over the edge of the tower and grabbed on tight to Lucy's hand before she could fall to her death.

Natsu felt a bit of déjà vu at that moment.

This reminded him of the time after he'd "defeated" Hades and he, himself, after using a bunch of his magic power in one go, had fallen off some platform thanks to fatigue but he was saved by Lucy at the last second.

Only this time it was Lucy who needed to have someone save her.

Natsu gripped on tightly and desperately to the Celestial mage's hand, refusing outright to let her go.

Lucy's panicked eyes locked on to Natsu's worried ones.

She gripped on as tight as she could, trying not to let her fingers slip out of Natsu's hand. Her lower lip quivered and her long blonde hair blew backwards from the force of the gale force winds that threatened to pry her away from the Dragon slayer. She tried to keep her eyes directly on the pink-haired pyro's face as she felt her clasp start to slip.

She clenched her teeth.

_"N-Natsu, I can't...hold on...!"_ She thought. _"My magic power...is completely drained...!"_

Natsu squinted his eyes through tears and the oncoming pain that pounded through his eardrums, still gripping to his partner's slipping hand.

"Lucy...h-hold on, please...!" He pled desperately.

Then it happened.

Natsu watched in frozen terror and he felt his heart drop when Lucy's hand slipped from his tight grip. A sickening sense of dread swept over him in a cold chill and time seemed to slow down as he watched. Tears of fright streamed down Lucy's face and she cried out his name but, as expected, no sound at all came out and she was pulled away from the Dragon slayer by some unseen but strong force.

As Lucy fell towards the ground below, she begun to pass out once again.

She felt faint, her throat hurt, her vision spun as though she was on a rollercoaster.

Her heart was pumping.

Black spots filled her vision.

Her eyesight faded in and out as if she were looking through a broken camera lens.

Her ears rang yet she could hear voices scream her name as her legs gave out suddenly and fell towards the ground below, only to be caught by someone last second. She was dimly aware of being cradled in someone's arms and she felt cocooned in warmth while strong and muscular arms enfolded themselves around her frail form as the last strands of consciousness abandoned her.

The dominant voice her ears latched on to was an unleashed strangled cry born of anguish and terror:

"LUUUUCCCCYYY!"

That (and the thunder wreaking havoc above) was the last thing Lucy heard before her whole world went black.

* * *

**YAAAAAAY! Lucy has her voice back...but what will happen now? ****I hope you lot enjoy this chapter however, will Lucy wake up?**

**Stay tuned and find out next time!**

**-Chloemcg **


	22. Awakening

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

Lucy groaned when she felt a horrible headache pound inside her skull.

Her eyes stung, her body ached and her stomach felt as though it had been flipped upside down. She felt so sore and she couldn't remember what she had been doing last...she tried to remember and she felt a small rasp slip from her scratchy throat. She felt like her whole being had been encased in a ball of cotton wool, muffling all of her senses such as sounds and smell...even sight.

Even her eyes had become foggy, she could sense this behind her closed eyeballs.

But a couple of thoughts had managed to break through the splitting pain in her head:

What had happened?

Had she gotten her voice back?

Had that bad guy been beaten!?

The realisation had caused her to try and verbalise her thoughts, her tongue flopped about in her mouth.

"N...Na...?" She gasped.

Faint voices began to break through her muffled sense of hearing and she was vaguely aware of the fact that one of those sounded like the voice of a child while the other sounded older. She knew that she recognised them and she felt her heart flip for joy when she heard them...but she was a bit too subconscious to notice it very much.

"Hey! I think she just said something!"

"I think you're right, Happy!"

Reflexively, Lucy let her fingers tighten on what he believed was a blanket. She knew he was laying down and she felt warm so she figured out that she was laying in bed, she was definitely laying on a comfy mattress. Her head continued to pound, it felt like she had been whacked over the head and her muscles felt like weights. She licked her dry lips and she swallowed to try and loosen her poor throat.

Her throat felt as though a claw had dug around in and tore it into ribbons.

"Uuugh...wha?"

It was faint and barely audible but she could definitely hear something coming out of her own throat!

The Celestial mage's curiosity got the better of her and she finally managed to force open her eyes, despite her eyelids feeling like weights.

She found that her previous suspicions from before were proven to be correct as she _was_ lying in a bed and a very comfortable one at that. She blinked repeatedly to try and clear her vision but everything was a haze and all she could make out were blurred shapes. She noticed that one blur consisted of pink, tan, black, gold and white while the other blur was a small blob of cobalt blue.

Lucy blinked her eyes slowly in disbelief.

The blue cat looked at her with eyes huge with concern.

"Are you okay?"

Lucy made a low, muffled-sounding moan.

Natsu lowered his voice into a soft-sounding whisper.

"Heeeey...Lucy. Can ya hear us?"

Lucy's eyes opened a bit more but their forms were still blurred and she could hardly see much but, at the very least, she could focus on the voices that she _knew _belonged to her two dearest friends. Her heart pounded rhythmically with her headache and she subconsciously tightened her grip on her blanket.

She opened her mouth and let out a rasp of a noise that was supposed to be one of confirmation.

The celestial wizard blinked repeatedly to try and refresh her vision and make it so the shapes of both the Dragon slayer and the bipedal blue cat clearer, but she felt as though she were looking through a blurred camera lens that made everything hard to see and her brain felt as though it was trying to pulsate out of her skull. She grit her teeth as she tried to sit up but was quickly pushed back down by a gentle but firm pressure on her sternum.

She felt said pressure pin her down on the bed gently.

"Woah, woah, woah, easy, easy! Easy, Lucy!" Natsu hurriedly spoke. "You took a _nasty _spill at that tower and you gotta lay down and relax."

Lucy blinked in silent bewilderment.

Took a nasty spill?

She fell?

Was that why she couldn't see too well?

"It was a good thing that Loke caught ya before you hit the ground, Lucy, because you just about passed out from your magic power being completely drained dry!"

Lucy was stunned.

Loke had caught her?

But...how?

When?

She glanced down at herself and noticed that she was wrapped up in bandages. Her arms were wrapped, her chest was wrapped, her waist was wrapped, her left foot was wrapped and her forehead was wrapped up; she was _covered _in bandages. She could even feel a small plaster stuck to her left cheek.

She must have had a terrible fall to have been hurt this bad.

Then she felt it.

Her head sparked with pain.

She felt as though a flash of lightning hit as a bolt of memories came flooding back to her like a vicious tidal wave. There was losing her voice, that Poacher of sounds, spending all that time with Natsu, running away, recovering her voice, getting her magic and her Celestial spirits back, and then it all stopped. She wanted to clutch her head from the pain and cry out but felt at ease almost immediately when something grabbed her hand.

Her eyes fell on her right hand and she saw that not only had Natsu seized hold of it but Happy had planted a paw upon the bandaged appendage too.

Her heart warmed at the sight and she quickly felt more at ease.

"We're right here for you, Luce," Natsu assured her with a grin that showed off his pearly white fangs.

"Aye sir!" Happy piped up in agreement. "We won't leave your side!"

Lucy felt her heart swell in her chest at the sentiment. How did she get to be so lucky to have Natsu and Happy with her? Her eyes welled up with tears and she held back a sob or two since she didn't want to worry the two. Her lips formed into a squiggly smile as huge tears threatened to roll down her pale cheeks and she couldn't help but want to throw herself at the both of them and loop her arms around them both.

Natsu gaped in shock when he saw the tears and was about to panic and demand why she was crying until he saw the smile etched upon her lips.

"Th-Th-Thaaaa...yewwww..." Lucy rasped out.

She looked down at herself yet again, her eyes wide with stunned shock.

Didn't she...get her voice back?

Why was she having difficulty speaking properly now?

She sounded as though her face was stuffed with marshmallows...and it made her cheeks flush a deep scarlet red colour due to embarrassment of both that comparison and that, even after, _all _she had gone through, it still wasn't quite right.

However, the Celestial wizard's worries had been quelled slightly when she saw and heard the door (or what she thought was the door since her vision was still quite blurred) being softly knocked before Wendy entered and came into what turned out to have been the Fairy tail guild hall infirmary.

The younger blue-haired sky dragon slayer was accompanied by her exceed, Carla, who came in carrying herbal medicines and other medicinal supplies.

All eyes turned to face the girl and the white-furred exceed accompanying her.

Wendy's eyes lit up with a mix of relief and exhilaration upon seeing that Lucy had finally regained consciousness. She was so happy that she couldn't even try and make an attempt at fighting back a few large tears and her lips quivered into a huge smile. She hardly hesitated and ran over to Lucy and basically thrown herself at her and buried her face into the nook of her neck.

Lucy was caught off guard.

"Lucy! You're awake!" Cried Wendy.

Wendy spent her tears on Lucy's chest. Her sobs and sniffled were muffled because she had her face buried in her neck and her body wracked and shook with convulsive snivelling; she tried to calm herself but she was just so relieved that Lucy was back to herself again that she couldn't help herself.

All Lucy could do, in the meantime, was gingerly stroke the back of the girl's head in a comforting manner.

The Celestial mage couldn't lie and not say that she was thrilled to be back as well, but she couldn't help but be shocked and surprised at everyone's behaviour towards her. They were acting as though she'd died and then been brought back or something.

Her brown eyes softened compassionately.

It took a total of ten minutes and fifteen seconds before Wendy finally managed to rein in her emotions and she decided to try and explain to Lucy what Porlyusica had spoken about while the Celestial wizard had been knocked out cold. She wore a patient but glassy-eyed look as she sat down at the edge of the bed and stared at Lucy, Happy and Natsu whom all stared back at her as they awaited for her to spill the beans on Lucy's prognosis.

Wendy reached down to Lucy's arm and a warm, green and healing glow enveloped her own arm which spread to Lucy's.

As she used her healing magic, she proceeded to explain.

"Well, Lucy, since your voice has been out of you for as long as it was, it will take awhile for you to sound normal again. Not only that but when you fell from the tower, you took quite a few hits to your body that seems to have ended up with some bruising on the inside—" Natsu and Happy flinched at the description. "—but things could have been a lot worse, considering everything you've gone through this last week or two."

Lucy felt a tidal wave of relief wash over her when she heard that.

While she held no appreciation for the internal bruising, she was happy to be alive and will recover.

Wendy smiled optimistically.

"Don't worry though! You just need some rest and you need to recuperate since you have been through a lot; when you've got enough energy, Porlyusica said that you could go back to your apartment but you'd probably need someone with you just encase. I could escort you home if you want!"

Wendy's smile was so adorable that Lucy couldn't bring herself to decline such a polite and sweet offer like that; besides, she was probably not going to feel safe on her own for some time after all of this. She could definitely use a lay down in her own bed and have a long soak in the bath...

The mere thought of it made her want to melt into a puddle of pure bliss.

She could hardly wait!

Carla, nuzzling in close to Wendy to comfort her, concurred. "Indeed. But from what Porlyusica had said, it shall take time to heal but we shall lend you our support should you call upon it."

The small white cat sent Lucy a peculiar warm smile that only a cat could make. Carla might have been prim and proper (and maybe even a little snooty at times) but she definitely was compassionate at the best of times...plus, she and Happy were an adorable couple...especially as she couldn't help but notice that Happy was gazing at her with absolute adoration while Carla wasn't looking.

Lucy was thrilled nevertheless.

She could have her life back to normal!

But then she thought of something.

"Wh-eeeres tha' sound s'ealing guy...?" She asked with her raspy yet husky-sounding voice.

Happy decided to answer her question.

"Oh! The rune knights took him back to Fiore so he could be arrested and charged with his crimes while you were still unconscious. He stole _a bunch _of sounds and those were returned to where they belonged!"

Carla harrumphed while folding her paws across her chest and turning huffily away. "Hmph! Ruffian..."

Lucy turned her head to see what Natsu had to say about it but she started to notice something with Natsu, he seemed _distant _all of a sudden.

The Celestial wizard of Fairy tail couldn't see it clearly but she saw some emotion she couldn't hope to describe on the salmon-haired fire wizard's face as he stared blankly out the window with a strange expression etched on his facial features. His shoulders were broad, his onyx eyes were passive and empty, his frown was so large that his mouth could have fallen right off his face without much difficulty at all.

The recovering blonde mage couldn't deny that this was bizarre.

What had gotten into him?

Was he just a bit banged up after the battle too?

What was on Natsu's mind...?

* * *

**A/N: Here's a new chapter, guys!**

**This is almost done and I'm hoping you guys enjoyed this chapter. I think Lucy might need a bit of TLC but what about Natsu? What's on his mind?**

**We shall find out in the next chapter, stay tuned!**

**-Chloemcg**


	23. Wishes made from fire and stars

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Fairy Tail, the rights to them belong to Hiro Mashima. Not me.**

**Spellbound voice**

* * *

A month had passed since Lucy had finally recovered her voice and now everything was slowly but surely going back to normal.

After being tried by the magic council, Lancer —the poacher of sound— was given a hefty prison sentence that meant he would be locked behind bars for a _very _long time while his pet monster was deemed too domesticated to be released into the wild so it was placed in a monster sanctuary on the edge of Magnolia. Lucy and Natsu were still grounded which was fine by the former because she didn't have much energy to go galavanting off anyway. Natsu had to mop up the entire guildhall by himself after one of the guilds many brawls as punishment! Lucy also got an apology from Gramps but was then informed that the only places she could go were the guild, the market and her apartment.

The stellar wizard didn't mind, though, as she knew that she deserved it for going off on her own despite being told several times not to. Actually Erza _did _end up shrieking her head off at Lucy for a mortifying four and a half hours but ended up hugging her out of pure relief.

Again, Lucy didn't mind since she saw it coming.

It took her that whole month of doing daily vocal exercises and speech therapy until she finally could speak without her sounding like her face was stuffed with food and to rebuild the strength she needed to call upon her Celestial spirits once more. Not to mention the muscles and fractures and internal bruising she'd taken needed it's own time to heal.

By the time the first month was up, it was as if the whole incident had never transpired in the first place...

Lucy arrived at the Fairy tail guild in the best mood she had been in ages and she opened the doors to the guildhall and beamed happily when she saw everybody acting as though nothing was wrong. They were all chatting amongst themselves as they sat at the tables and went about their usual lives and completely ignored her presence, not that they knew she was there yet.

She raised her hand up high and shook it in an excited wave.

"Hi, everyone!" She exclaimed cheerily.

Everybody immediately raised their heads upon hearing the voice they hadn't heard in what felt like ages.

They all simultaneously looked back at Lucy and waved at her in reply, some even voicing their response, although each individual's greetings were so mixed up together that Lucy couldn't make all of them out. She didn't care much about that, however, because she was in such a great mood that she was sure that nothing could ruin it at all. She grinned from ear-to-ear and was so excited that she was basically bouncing up and down jovially on the spot.

That was when her eyes caught sight of a certain pink-haired individual seated at one of the tables.

Lucy felt her delight skyrocket when she saw Natsu and she hardly even hesitated before she hurried and ran up to the table. She slammed her hands down on the surface of the table, the force causing Natsu to jolt upwards with a look of pure shock and surprise crossing on his face.

The Celestial Mage beamed brightly at a stunned and rather disgruntled Natsu.

"Hey Natsu!"

Natsu's reply was a bit strange:

His shocked face dropped into a sulky scowl and shrugged his strong shoulders in nonchalance.

Lucy just stared silently.

Ever since the day in the infirmary after that fall she'd taken from the castle, Natsu had been oddly quiet. He had been in such a bizarre mood and it confused everyone —not even Gray could battle it out of him and this made the ice maker mage just as (or maybe even a bit more) concerned for the hot-tempered dragon slayer.

It was strange but she was _determined _to get him to open up.

She folded her arms across her chest and glared at the Dragon slayer with a quirked brow. "What's with the silent treatment?"

Natsu didn't respond right away; he just stared down emptily of the bench surface in front of him.

Lucy felt her stomach sink with worry. Was Natsu actively ignoring her? Why? Maybe he was disappointed in her too for running away after their agreement to stick together? But, then, why hadn't he blown up at her yet? Perhaps he was waiting for the right time to explode at her? No. Otherwise he'd look more angry instead of thoughtful.

Then a look of genuine fear swept across her face.

What if Natsu's voice had been...!?

"Oh no...! Has your voice been stolen now too!?" She cried.

Natsu suddenly, kind of answering her question and giving her relief, sighed and shook his head and responded to her with a rather nonchalant voice.

"No, you weirdo, my voice is perfectly fine..."

Lucy looked as though as she was about to cry as she implored.

"But, then, _why _are you not talking to me? You can't even bring yourself to look at me! Are you still mad that I left on my own? P-Please tell me...!"

Natsu finally turned around and lifted his gaze to see her face and what he saw made his heart break. He could see the threat of tears start to swim in Lucy's coffee brown eyes and his silent thoughtful expression swiftly into one of guilt and upset that he'd caused Lucy so much distress. He really wanted to reach out to her and pull her into a tight hug...but he lowered his head, closed his eyes, and exhaled a deep breath from his nostrils.

He knew what he had to do.

"C'mon, weirdo. Don't get all weepy on me..."

Lucy sniffled as she managed to suck back any tears threatening to fall from her eyes and rubbed at her bloodshot eyeballs, they were red from the raw emotions she felt pounding away in her mind but she eventually managed to grab the reigns on her feelings and pull them back.

Natsu stared at her for a long time until he gave a resigned-sounding puff of breath.

He stood up from the bench and grabbed hold of her hand.

"I need to have a word with you."

Before Lucy could even try and make a response, she was dragged off.

Everyone watched awkwardly as Natsu drug Lucy off into the distance and observed as the two mages left though the exit. Lucy wanted to protest but, given that Natsu was in a bad mood before, he'd just started to talk to her again and she didn't want to wreck that. She could sense that Natsu needed her silence right now.

The two left in silence.

An incredibly awkward silence passed the entire guildhall by.

A few lengthy moments passed until Gray spoke up.

"Sooooo...who wants to spy on 'em?"

Gajeel smirked wickedly.

"Gihi...I'll take that action!"

* * *

_Meanwhile outside..._

Lucy felt very nervous as she stood face-to-face with her friend, she was sweating bullets and she was glancing everywhere except him because she couldn't stand the thought of him looking disappointed or something. The mere thought of it tugged hard at her heartstrings and it made her arms break out into goosebumps.

She even felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

The Celestial wizard subconsciously hugged herself as though trying to keep herself warm, and she ducked her head in between her shoulders. She wasn't cold —it was quite warm and toasty thanks to the suns heat beaming down from above— so she didn't know why she was hugging herself like she was but she _did _feel somewhat calmed after doing so.

That was until she heard Natsu clear his throat in an attempt to gain her attention.

She finally gathered her courage and finally had the guts to peer up at Natsu.

Natsu stood tall and straight as he looked her directly in the eye.

Lucy stared back at him, eyes locked on him.

Then, without a semblance of warning, Natsu reached forwards whilst extending his right arm towards the back of her head, slipping it passed the side of her face, and lightly thwacked it with his hand. It wasn't a hard smack by any means but Lucy did give an "oof" as she reached up to rub at where the dragon slayer had hit her.

Natsu's eyes hardened.

His expression was unreadable and it was a stare that made Lucy's spine curl with dread.

The pinkette seemed to think for a moment before he asked.

"Lucy...was everything you written in that letter true?"

Lucy was confused. What letter? He couldn't possibly mean the letter that she'd written before running away to retrieve her voice...could he? The thought struck her like a bolt of lightning and she felt her face go red hot with her complexion suddenly matching that of a ripe tomato.

Her deep caffeine brown eyes widened in their sockets and her chest felt tight.

"L-L-L-Letter?" She squeaked anxiously.

Natsu nodded his head and decided to clarify.

"The letter you wrote when you ran off. You said that you...Happy and I...that you...you..."

He found that he couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence. The words just refused to roll off the tip of his tongue and it caused him to fumble his speech slightly. He felt a hint of frustration build up and he felt his throat tighten due to how nervous he felt about asking her. His face even started to match the same hot red colour as Lucy's as they both sported a serious blush.

Natsu scuffed his foot on the ground as he tugged at his scarf to loosen his tight throat, he was sweating buckets.

He wasn't sure whether or not it was heat or fear but he tried to ignore it.

Lucy was beginning to understand what he was trying to ask and her whole world froze for a moment.

Was...Natsu trying to...tell her that...that he _loved _her?

If she was hearing this right and if she was dreaming then she never wanted to ever wake up.

Another few moments of silence passed on.

"OH FORGET IT!"

Natsu cried out suddenly as he just threw his arms around her waist, puckered his lips and crashed them into Lucy's lips.

The Celestial wizard of Fairy tail felt like she was in afloat in nirvana. She never felt so happy in her entire life, she couldn't believe it. Natsu was KISSING her! Her mind was racing with a thousand thoughts, her heart was thumping like a bounding rabbits foot, her legs felt like jelly but she refused to drop to the ground right there and then, her arms shook and trembled.

She closed her eyes as she melted into the kiss.

Her heart kept on racing in her chest, her legs quaked and trembled, she felt lighter than air, she could have been walking on clouds...this feeling was indescribable and she _never _wanted it to end. Natsu sighed with his lips still pressed firmly against Lucy's as he suddenly pulled away from his new girlfriend momentarily and he raised his head and started to sniff the air.

An annoyed expression flashed across his facial features.

"Sorry about this, Luce, but I don't feel entirely comfortable with _**everyone** _hiding and watching us HAVE THIS **_PRIVATE_** CONVERSATION!"

The salmon-pink-haired fire dragon slayer made sure to amplify his voice as he looked around for the people watching their very private discussion.

Both Lucy and Natsu pulled away from one another and watched with annoyed expressions as a multitude of their friends popped out from their hiding places —Gajeel, Gray, Juvia, Erza, Mirajane, Elfman, Evergreen, Happy, Wendy and even Carla emerged from their respective spots while they each wore their share of teasing smirks...except Wendy who just wore a pleasant smile on her face.

Natsu's face became red hot as steam fired from his air and a curl of smoke blew from his nose.

Lucy decided to defuse her new boyfriend's rage as she threw her arms around his neck and held him tight in a loving embrace.

"I...I love you, Natsu Dragneel...thank you so much for h-helping me get my voice back,"

Natsu was caught off guard by the display of affection and replied with a soft smile as he returned the gesture.

"I love ya too, Lucy. Just know that I _love _your voice and I'd help you all over again in a heartbeat."

* * *

**A/N: HERE IS THE FINAL CHAPTER, EVERYONE!**

**Thank you for sticking by this fanfic and ****I have seriously enjoyed writing this fanfic and I hope the lot of you enjoyed reading it. I want to thank everyone for reading this and you lot are supremely awesome! ****Hopefully this fic will help you pass the time with the Corona virus and the isolation it brings.**

**Don't forget to review and fave, everyone.**

**Thank you very much.**

**-Chloemcg**


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